


Reversed Fates-The Chronicles

by Meanken



Series: Reversed Fates Series [2]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Mild Language, Post-Devil May Cry 3, Sequel, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-02-04 19:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 66,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18610867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meanken/pseuds/Meanken
Summary: After a long night atop the Temen-ni-gru and a fated duel, the Sons of Sparda have settled their differences and put the past behind them. Teaming up with the demon hunter Lady, they open a new business, dedicated to the extermination of all evil, Devil May Cry. These are their stories. A sequel story to Reversed Fates.





	1. Exterminators

_First and formost, this is a sequel story to my previous fic, Reversed Fates, an AU of sorts where Dante and Vergil swapped places as the protagonist and antagonist of DMC3. Because of this, there will be deviations from canon, most of which will be apparent within the first chapter or two._

_As for this story, taking feedback, this will be a fic more focused on the day to day lives of the DMC crew. Think less video game story, more TV style. There will be chapters that lead into each other sometimes, but other times weeks or months may pass between chapters. Some will be lighthearted and comidic, others may be more serious._

_Also, she's not around yet, but I do plan for Trish to join the cast at some point, I have already planned out how I'm handling DMC 1. Nero, on the other hand, won't be appearing in this fic, DMC 4 is something I'd probably base a whole fic around when that time comes, but we're nowhere near close enough to enough time passing in universe to really justify him now._

_EDIT-As of  Chapter 21, the above is no longer accurate, and Nero is now in fact in the fic starting from that point._

* * *

The flashes of dozens of police lights had lit up the rainy street since the night began. Not the most unusual event, this was a seedy place, crime, drug dealing, even the occasional shooting wasn't unheard of. But one didn't need to be a local to sense something was different tonight. Large numbers of police cars sat in front of an entrance to a dark alley, one that sat between two abandoned buildings. It was an enclosed space, the walls of the buildings it ran between covered the top of it, and the opposite end was nothing more then a brick wall.

The locals knew it well. An alley with only one way in and one way out, it had proven a popular location for all manner of illegal activity. But this was no normal crime. One only needed to look at the grim faces of the officers surrounding the alley, all with weapons trained on it, to see that. In addition to the patrol cars, a SWAT truck sat off to the side, and father back, an unmarked black car with two suited men inside waited, and keen eyes could see blood slowly flowing out of the alley, already mixing with the falling rain.

A good 50 feet back, the police barricade sat, where a number of civilians stood. A scant few were locals, curious enough to override their caution, but most locals were huddled in their houses, hiding from the cops as much as anything else. Most of the remainder were reporters of various kinds, drawn to the scene like carrion birds and huddled under umbrellas. One of them was an intern for a local paper, no older then 20, attempting to sip at a cup of convenience store coffee.

"How you holding up?" Behind him, an older man in a tweed jacket walked up, a veteran reporter of many years at the same paper, and currently saddled with the task of teaching this new intern the ropes.

"I've never seen anything like this." The intern said.

"Guess not, being from the country. How long you been in the city?"

"Couple of weeks."

"So this is your first time at a major crime scene." He nodded. "You get used to it."

"So, did they tell you what's going on?"

"Directly? No. But I asked some discreet questions, and I got the picture."

He walked up next to the intern, sipping at his own coffee. "You heard about the spree killer running around town, last day or two?"

"10 men dead within 24 hours?"

"That's the one. Police managed to track him down. Stormed his hideout, sent him on the run. They chased him, managed to corner him in an alley. 4 officers went in to make the arrest. None of them came out, all anyone ever heard was them screaming bloody murder."

He took a cigarette out of his pocket, and lit it up. "That's when the siege began. SWAT was called in. The alley's a narrow dead end, they knew he had nowhere to go. 5 SWAT members went in."

He pointed over at an ambulance, where a medical team was treating a single man in SWAT armor. "He was the only one who survived. Came out a babbling wreck. He'll probably never be the same again."

"But...just one man?"

The vet shook his head. "Take a close look. At his injuries. What do you see, kid?"

He narrowed his eyes, then gasped as he saw long gashes on the man's right arm. "Wha…..claw marks?"

"That's right."

"A dog?"

"No dog made cuts like that." The vet said, shaking his head. "Rumor has it that when he staggered out of that alley, he was muttering a single word. "Demons."

"Demons?" The intern's eyes widened in panic. "But, the news said they were tracking a man, not a demon!"

"I'm sure they did." He said as he finished the cigarette and flicked the butt away. "But not every demon walks around in the open. Some walk in the shape of humans, just like you and me. Waiting for their chance to strike."

"If, if there's a demon, we need to get out of here, before-"

The vet reached over, putting his hand on the interns shoulder. "Relax. If it was going to make a break, it would have done it already. No, it's trapped. Just a matter of how many more die to take it out."

The intern took a breath. "Ok, ok, so…..what happens next?"

"They're waiting for the backup to arrive."

"Military?"

He shook his head. "Unlikely, at this point. They've probably already made the call to the exterminators."

"Exterminators?"

As he asked, a older style black car that had a dome top and tinted windows pulled up. The doors opened. Out of the back stepped two white haired men, one with slicked back hair and a blue coat, and the other with unkempt hair in a red coat. Out of the passenger seat stepped a woman with short, black hair. The vet gave a low whistle.

"They called in the big guns. You don't usually see all of them on the same job. Buckle in, kid, you're in for a show tonight."

The intern, meanwhile, just looked confused. "But…..just three people? They're not even officers!"

"They're "specialists". Demon hunters. They call themselves "Devil May Cry", and I'd sure as hell be crying if I heard any of them were after me."

They walked around to the back trunk, and popped it open. The two men pulled out swords, the one in blue a katana, and the one in red a long broadsword. The woman, meanwhile, started yanking guns out left and right and strapping them to her body, culminating in her pulling out a gigantic rocket launcher and slinging it over her body.

"Holy shit…." The intern muttered.

"They don't play." The vet said. "They opened up shop a few months back, and haven't failed to take out a target since. You're looking at some of the best of the best."

"I haven't seen any ads for them…."

"They don't advertise. They don't need to. You're new in town. Stick around long enough, you'll hear the rumors about them. Folks around here, they know who to call and where to go when things go bump in the night."

The intern nodded. "You seem to know more then just rumors."

"I wrote an article or two about them, month or so back. They did me a solid, figured the people deserved to know about em."

The trio walked over to the ambulance, the woman stopping to speak to the SWAT officer.

"The two men, they're brothers. Twins, although you'd never know it just talking to them. The one in blue, his name's Vergil. Serious type, the kind who prefers to let his actions speak louder then words. No one ever sees him carry anything other then that sword, but the demons die all the same. The brother in red, name's Dante, and he's the complete opposite. Loud, expressive, always has a smartass comment ready to go. But he's earned that right, he's got the skills, when he can be bothered to get off his ass. And the woman, she goes by Lady. Not the name on her license, but few know her real name and those who do don't use it."

She must have heard them, because she took a quick glance in their direction with her multicolored eyes, one blue and one red.

"She's beautiful…." The intern muttered, earning him a wack upside the head from the vet.

"Don't even think about it. She may look young, but that's probably the most dangerous woman in the city. Way out of any of our leagues. I haven't seen her in action, but no one who packs the kind of heat she does is someone you want to risk pissing off. On top of the standard job duties that one assumes comes with hunting demons, she handles all of their pay negotiations. By all accounts, she's a ruthless bitch on the negotiating table. Don't make the rookie mistake of assuming she's just a pretty secretary, she'll find a way to make you regret it."

"They charge?"

"Gotta eat somehow, kid. World ain't all sunshine and rainbows, otherwise they wouldn't be needed."

"But what if someone doesn't have enough to pay them? They just let them get eaten?"

The vet shook his head, sighing at all the questions. "Not quite. For average joes, like me or you, they might cut a break on the charges, or sometimes, they'll let you go on a payment plan. Don't take that second option if you can help it, Lady also doubles as their collection agent on her off days, and I've heard horror stories about the things she'll make people do to pay back her debts. But for people with the means to pay, government, rich folk, and the like, their rates are….. considerable. They probably squeezed the city for every penny before saying yes tonight."

"But-"

"Look, kid, think of it this way." The vet said with irritation as the trio of demon hunters lined up alongside each other and approached the alley, cops stepping out of their way. "Doctors charge a lot, right? So do lawyers. Anyone in a skilled trade gets to name their price. It's no different for them, only every time they go to work, they're putting their lives on the line. The city's accountants will bitch and moan, but they'll get every cent they demand, cause they're that good, and there's few enough people with their skills on the planet. Probably increasing property values just by virtue of living in the city.

The hunters entered the alley, and the vet raised his hand in the air to shut the intern up as the crowd held their breath. "Here we go."

There was silence for some seconds, then a hideous, inhuman roar. The sounds of rapid gunshots went off, the alley lighting up with the flickers of gunshots causing shadows of the hunters to be visible, mixed with a random explosion or two for good measure. After several seconds, the gunshots halted. Footsteps started approaching the exit, and the officers tensed.

Then, Vergil exited the alley, Dante and Lady just behind him. He held up his free arm, which was clutching a severed demon head. He dropped it, and let it roll forward. The tension broke, and cheers went up through the crowd.

"See?" The vet said. "Nothing to it."

The intern, meanwhile, stood in shock. "But…..that was just…it took them  _seconds_!"

"I told you, kid. Best of the best."

A few officers walked up to the trio, and Dante laughed at one before pulling out a pen and signing something for him. Vergil stepped to the side, flicking some demon blood off of his blade, and Lady ducked around the crowd, approaching the black car with suits, where they now stood waiting with a duffel bag containing their pay.

"Any questions?" The vet asked.

"I…..I just…." It was clear the intern was still processing this. "If they can kill demons that easily, then people, they could-"

"They don't kill humans." The vet interrupted. "They're not hitmen. They don't take those kinds of jobs. Only work they take is demon related. Anyone else gets turned away."

"So you're saying they're….what? Heroes?"

"I don't know if I'd use that word, life ain't some comic book, and no one's flawless. Dante's a lazy shit most of the time, Vergil's an ass, and Lady's just the scariest damn woman I've ever met."

The trio, finished with their business, reentered the black car, which started moving.

"But when the chips are down, and you're deep in the shitter, you'll be glad they're on your side. Remember that, kid."


	2. An Agreement

Inside of the black car, the demon hunting trio sat. Lady was back in the front seat with the duffel bag, and the two brothers were in the back. Lady took out a wad of bills and gave them a good sniff as she flipped the bills like they were a deck of playing cards.

"Hmmmmm….the smell of fresh, crisp bills is the third best smell in the world." She said with a smile.

"Let me guess." Vergil said. "The other two are gunpower, and freshly spilled demon blood?"

"I would have said explosions, but gunpower is an acceptable substitute."

The driver of the car, a bald, black man in a crisp suit and hat, laughed as he tapped his cigar on an ashtray. "And you wonder why people think you're a mad workaholic?"

"Who said I was wondering, Morrison?" She asked as she tossed him a stack of bills, which he caught. "You know what they say about work, do what you love and it's not work."

"You got problems."

"So you tell me once a week."

Dante yawned. "Well while we're at it, can you get us harder jobs? I mean, that was a cakewalk."

"There was no reason we all had to show up to that job." Vergil said. "Any one of us could have handled that situation alone."

Morrison shook his head. "I don't doubt it. But that was a high profile case, and the city's going to appreciate the show of force. It'd make them look bad if a single man or woman managed to do what 5 SWAT officers couldn't."

"That's hardly my concern." Vergil said with a roll of his eyes.

"Which is why you hired  _me_ as your agent." Morrison said. "Trust me here. Have I steered you wrong yet?"

"I suppose not." Vergil said. "But I'm beginning to despise this part of the business. So long as the demon is dead, what else does it matter?"

"If you want return customers, you best start caring what they think." Morrison said.

" _Besides_ " Lady said as she turned toward the backseat. "They personally requested all of us. That meant I was able to nearly triple the rates."

"Because you don't have enough money yet, Lady?" Dante asked.

"There's nothing wrong with being fairly compensated for your work." Lady said, waging a finger at Dante.

"I've taken trips to the bathroom that were harder then that. You want to run an extortion racket, that's your business, but-"

"Excuse you, but remind me who owes me a mountain of debt-"

"I told Vergil he shouldn't have borrowed your money a thousand times-"

"I suppose you were planning to pay for an office with empty pizza boxes-"

"Hey don't knock the pizza-"

"SILENCE!" Vergil yelled suddenly, shutting them up. A long moment of silence passed as Vergil recomposed himself. Then he looked at each of them in turn. "Dante. Lady is within her rights as our financer to demand whatever pay she feels appropriate. And Lady, you are already taking an extra cut out of every one of our checks for your debt. If you could kindly stop reminding us of it, that would be  _appreciated._ "

"I'm just  _saying_ , you do still owe it-"

"Ya?" Dante asked, raising his hands up. "Well, some of us ain't just in it for the money. Just saying."

"How  _dare_ you!" Lady twisted around and looked ready to leap into the backseat and fight him.

"Do I gotta turn this car around like you're a bunch of children?" Morrison asked, clearly annoyed himself now. Everyone shut up, and he shook his head. "You're all a bunch of characters. All of you, hardheads who think they know best. It's not a bad thing, you need that kind of mentality in this line of work. But you've all taken it to the next level. I'd say you need therapy, but I ain't convinced that'll do squat."

He flicked his cigar out the window. "I got an idea. You've all been operating more or less independently since you opened, right?"

Lady nodded. "We discussed it, and decided that was the best way to cover as much ground as possible."

"Well, that shit stops today. From now on, you're working as pairs, or together." All of them turned to protest, and Morrison raised his hand. "You're all very good at your jobs, but your people skills are in the toilet. Dante, I never see you awake before noon and every time you deal with a client, I get complaints about how you're about as professional as a hobo."

"It's not my fault you keep giving me stiff lip upper class clients."

"Lady, frankly, your reputation is getting to the point where I'm sometimes having trouble convincing folks to walk in the door, because they're more scared of you then they are the demons, and the fact that you keep fleecing people alive for their money and what they owe you ain't helping."

"I lay out my terms very clearly on the contracts, I can't help it if people are intimidated by my skills."

"And Vergil, as for you, you're about as charismatic as a wall, and give just about as many shits half the time."

"I kill demons for people. Becoming their friends is not part of the job."

"Point is, you all need to work on shit." Morrison said, throwing up his hands. "So you're going to work on jobs together until you can all get along with each other and learn to overcome your personal weakness.  _Especially_  you two." He said as he pointed at Lady and Dante, who both crossed their arms.

"Besides which, jobs are slowing down a bit. I'm not going to have enough to keep offering each of you your own personal gigs, even ignoring everything else I just said. So suck it up."

The car was silent for a long moment.

"Who's turn is it to pay for dinner?" Dante asked.

"Yours." Vergil replied.

"Well, guess I know where we're going." Morrison said. The rest of the ride was silent until they pulled up in front of an old streetside diner that looked like it walked out of the 60s, complete with waitresses on roller skates and the name of the place, The Roller Grill. The three exited, Lady slinging the bag of money over her back.

"Hey!" Morrison yelled, rolling down the window as the three approached the door. "Look, don't take what I said the wrong way. I still like you guys. I wouldn't be doing this for you all if I didn't. But sometimes, someone's gotta say the shit that needs to be said, even if it ain't nice. You feel me?"

"Sure, man." Dante said unenthusiastically.

"Our weapons?" Lady asked.

"I'll drop em off at the office. You need to stop carting that rocket launcher around like a purse, license from the city or not, it makes people antsy. Same for you boys and the swords. You don't need weapons to have a meal."

Lady unconsciously checked the location where she always carried a concealed pistol, as if to reassure herself it was still there. Morrison shook his head, figuring she had one without needing to be told, but some battles weren't going to be won. He pulled away, and without a word, the three went inside and sat at Dante's usual table. Soon enough, a waitress slid up to them.

"Oh, hey Dante! You guys ready to order?"

"Usual for me." Dante said.

"What's the least offensive food you have?" Vergil said.

"What?"

"Oh come on, Vergil! Just get him an order of fries."

Lady, meanwhile, stared at the menu. "Can I have…..let's see…..a chicken salad, and a glass of tea?"

"Coming right up!" She slid away a little too quickly, and Dante turned to Vergil, annoyed. "Can you at least try not to be a prick in my favorite dive? Now I have to apologize to her later."

"That  _was_ a little much, even for you, Vergil." Lady said, crossing her arms as she gave him a disapproving look. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything."

"Says the woman who regularly hassles people about money."

"That's work, that's different! You had no reason to be rude to that poor girl who was just doing her job! When she comes back, I expect you to apologize! And if you don't, you're doing all the cleaning for the next week!"

Vergil tried to turn and glare in defiance, but Lady glared back with a look that said she wasn't backing down.

"Listen to your girlfriend, Vergil."

Both of them rounded on Dante at once, and he raised his hands up.

"How many times do we have to say it-"

"-told you far too many times, brother, that-"

"-we're not dating!" They both finished at the same time.

The waitress slid back up at that moment, a tray of glasses in her hand. "Awww, but I think you two would make a cute couple."

Lady could feel her face turning red even as she stomped on Vergil's foot. Sighing, he turned toward the woman.

"I….. apologize if my previous words offended you." He turned back toward Lady, glaring. "Happy now?"

"Pleased as punch." She said as she glared back. Dante chuckled in an effort to break the tension as the drinks were placed, a water in front of Vergil, a tea in front of Lady, and a strawberry sundae in front of Dante.

"Your face sure looks like you just dipped it in the punch bowl, Lady! Got something you want to share?"

"Screw you!"

The waitress hesitated. "Cute couple. Cute, scary couple. Your food will be ready in a minute."

She slid away as a nearby TV flipped to the local news.

"Our top story tonight, the manhunt for a spree killer takes a tragic turn as 8 officers are killed and one is wounded after the killer is revealed to be a demon in disguise. Representatives of the Devil May Cry association, a local demon hunting group, were called in to put down the menace."

A recording of the three of them on the scene flashed on the screen. Lady, watching the screen, sighed.

"You know, maybe Morrison is right." The other too looked up at her. "Maybe we do need to work on our….people skills. All of us."

"Holy shit. She's admitting personal fault?" Dante said in shock.

"That's a first."

"Look." Lady looked up, a serious look on her face. "Up until 3 months ago, I had no real people I dealt with on a daily basis. I just did my thing, then moved on. What anyone else thought never entered my head. But….things have changed now. We're doing good work, work that's benefitting people, and people are starting to learn who we are. I like what we have going, and….I don't want to lose that. Can we all agree, on that much at least?"

Both of the brothers slowly nodded. "Good. So, I think we should put some actual effort into doing what Morrison says. Agreed?"

"I guess, sure, I'm down "

"I will try."

"I guess that's good enough for now."

"No, no, no, no, we can't end it on a depressing note like that!" Dante said, drawing confused stares from the other two. He extended his arm, placing his hand in the middle of the table.

"Come on, everyone in!" Vergil and Lady looked at each other.

"Do we have to?" Lady asked warily. "In  _public_?"

"What are we, 5?"

"Just put your hands in and stop being killjoys, the both of you."

Lady rolled her eyes, then put her hand in. Vergil resisted a moment longer, then gave in and placed his hand on top.

"Alright, "Make the devils cry", on 3."

"That's not what we're agreeing to do!" Lady complained.

"You have a better snappy saying to yell?" Lady had no reply, and so he continued. "Alright, 1, 2, 3-"

"Make the devils cry!" They all yelled as they raised their hands up in the air


	3. A Trip to the Doctor

Dante's day started with a swift kick on his desk jerking him awake.

"I'm up, I'm up!", He said as he sat up to see an irritated but unsurprised Lady standing over him. She had clearly just gotten in, as she was in a red full body leather biker suit, with a helmet tucked under her arm.

"Morrison passed along a job. You're coming with. Get ready."

Dante reached over and grabbed his sword. "Ready."

"Get your case. And then read the file while I arm up."

She tossed a yellow file on the desk, which Dante picked up and opened to the first page.

"Dr Sawbones? This guy take his name from the first horror flick he could find?" Lady just shrugged as she jammed a sawed off shotgun into a duffle bag. Dante continued to read for a second before putting it down. "Dense reading. Can I get the cliffnotes?"

"That's a copy of a police report." Lady said as she started shoving ammo into her bag. "Our friend Dr Sawbones is a back alley doctor. The kind of doctor you go to when you need off the books treatment for gunshots, cuts, whatever. Only the people who go to his office have an unfortunate habit of turning up dead. Turn to page 5."

Dante did so, and saw several pictures of men who appeared to be literally deflated.

"The official cause of death is blood loss. Not from bleeding, from the blood literally being drained out of them, to the last drop."

"Sounds like someone did a bit of a hack job."

Lady slowly looked up from her bag. "Dante. People are dead because of this thing."

He sighed. "Always so high strung. You know, you'd probably be a lot happier if you just take a second every now and then to laugh at some of the absurd things we see. Remember the toilet demon?"

Lady chuckled despite herself. "Ok, I'll give you that one." The image of a demon running around with a toilet on his head because his portal appeared directly under a stall wasn't one she was going to forget anytime soon.

"See? You  _can_ laugh."

She shook her head. "Ok, but can we focus?"

"So we got a vampire running around?" Dante asked as he grabbed a large guitar case and put his sword in it.

"Could be a lot of things. We won't know until we get there."

He nodded. "We good?"

"Ready when you are."

"Not waiting for Vergil? He's still out, it was his turn to go shopping."

"We can handle this on our own."

They walked outside, and Dante noticed something missing. "Not taking Kalina?" He asked, referring to her rocket launcher.

"In a cramped, crowded office? I'll be more likely to kill myself then the demons. I've been working on something special with the shotgun, they worked well in test firing and I'll be eager to see how they work in a real fight."

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Care to share?"

"Some specialty ammo I've been working on." She said as she put her helmet on. "All I'll say. Girl has to have some secrets."

They walked over to a set of two bikes. One, Lady's, was a bright red, high end sport motorcycle. The other, Dante's, was an older style motorcycle that he sat down on, as opposed to Lady, who was practically laying down on hers. Without any more discussion, they drove off.

* * *

Vergil still had no idea how he had allowed himself to get roped into this. When they first started the business, Dante had raised the question to Vergil of who was doing the shopping for supplies. Food, drinks, office things, and so on. Vergil, having no real shopping experience, naturally just assumed Lady would do it. She was a girl, she seemed more tuned into that scene then he was.

Dante had outright laughed in his face, and the ensuing bet on whenever or not Lady would punch him was one of the few Dante would likely ever win in his life. Vergil had then been forced to endure a half hour rant about women rights and changing views of gender roles and various other inane topics, which he eventually decided was just her saying "I'm not doing it for you" in an overly dramatic way.

In the wake of this, an agreement was stuck where each of them would take turns doing the weekly shopping runs. An agreement which was swiftly altered to exempt Dante after he came back from his first trip with 50 pizza boxes, an act which succeeded in earning him another gunshot to the head from a furious Lady. Personally, Vergil thought that Dante was more cunning then she gave him credit for and did that on purpose to get out of it, but that was a battle not worth fighting.

And so now every other week he was forced to go to the mall, in Vergil's opinion, a truer hell then the actual hell. Large crowds of fools who roamed more or less at random, obnoxious displays, loud and/or crying children, the list went on.

Lady had at least agreed to provide him with a list of what was needed. But this only helped him so much. Food was the easiest, nether he nor Lady were picky eaters, so long as it wasn't slop, and Dante's regular meal was pizza he ordered. Office supplies were more difficult, but once he learned what half the things she wrote were, he figured it out. But there was one part of this list he would forever despise.

The women section. In addition to everything else, Lady demanded that he go to some boutique he had never heard of and pick up all of her…..personal care products. He had attempted to fight her on this, but she just waved that damn debt in his face and told him to suck it up, because apparently that debt meant he was now her indentured servant, or so it felt sometimes.

It wouldn't have been so bad, if she hadn't insisted on exact, detailed descriptions of exactly what brand and scent of each one of these things she wanted, few of which he had ever heard of, and after the incident that had resulted when he asked in the store what a tampon was for, he was determined never to ask again.

And it wasn't as easy as remembering where they were, because the woman was fickle and would sometimes change what she wanted from week to week based on some magazine article she had read. And Sparda help you if you didn't get something, or tried to substitute one item for another, as he found out when they were out of her tampon brand and the helpful employee recommended another, an act which resulted in said item being thrown back at him full force after he asked why it mattered and what the difference was, a question he still had not received a satisfactory response to.

Dante had tried to warn him of the perils of attempting to share a house with a woman the night after she moved in, but he hadn't paid him any heed. How hard could it be, he had asked. As he stood in line, he shook his head at his naivety.

"Blasted, demonic woman." He muttered as he stepped to the register, ready to leave this hell for another 2 weeks.

"My apologies, sir, the register just went down. You'll have to wait until it's back up."

He gave her a cold glare, but he had learned that these retail people were more hardened then the average human, and few caved to a glare that usually caused men to wet themselves in fear. Then he sighed.

"Is there no other register?"

"No sir. You'll have to wait, or, you can come back tomorrow."

He briefly considered having to return to this hell the next day.

"I'll wait."

He wondered what Dante and the infernal woman were doing right now. Whatever it was, it had to be better then this.

* * *

They dismounted their bikes, and Lady removed her helmet, locking it to the bike.

"So." Dante said as he turned to her. "What's the-"

Then she suddenly pulled a gun out of her bag and shot him in the gut.

"What the hell was that for?" He asked as she put the gun back and zipped the bag up.

"You've just been shot. You need medical treatment."

"You know full well I-"

"You're a human and you need treatment." She said as she stepped on his foot.

"Can't we just kick in the door?"

"No guarantee they're all in the same room, I want a clean sweep in one swoop. No one gets away, got it?"

"Sure, sure." He said nonchalantly as they both grabbed their respective bags of weapons.

"You're  _injured_. You've been  _shot_. Show some urgency, show some pain, some fear." She roughly yanked on his ear as they started walking, causing him to yell in pain. "We need to sell this act."

"Fear? Ya don't worry, I'm next to the scariest woman in the city, I think I can do fear."

"And less smartass comments! Walk faster, if that wound heals before we get in the door, I have to shoot you again!"

Dante's pace noticeably quickened, and they entered the office. Inside was the most bland, drab office imaginable. Next to the door stood a man with his arms crossed, clearly a guard, and 2 men and a woman behind a counter. All turned to look as Dante staggered in, giving his best grimace as Lady supported him.

"Please, we need help, he's been shot!"

The three receptionists looked between themselves.

"Miss…" One of them said. "I think you have the-"

"Please!" Lady yelled, surprising Dante with how much it sounded like she actually cared he had been "shot". For his part, he gave a sad sounding groan. "We don't have time to go anywhere else! I know you have a doctor who does this work! I'll pay anything you want!"

The receptionists looked at each other again, and were about to speak when a door opened, and a man with a stethoscope peaked out the door.

"Send him in. It's fine, we need a patient or two today, yes?"

The mem nodded, and the doctor, dressed in the most generic doctor's outfit imaginable, stepped out and took Dante's arm from Lady. She stepped to the side

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

As Dante was taken away, he turned to look at Lady, and they shared a glance, silently confirming what she had already knew. They were all demons. She had felt that sensation of unease, the hair sticking up on the back of her neck, since they entered. A feeling most people would write off as a stiff breeze, or nerves, or something. But she had come to trust her instincts. They had kept her alive more then once.

She walked up to the counter as Dante vanished behind the door. "Thank you again. Please, how much do I owe you?"

"Oh, don't worry, we'll take care of that later." The man said.

"Here." The woman walked up, all smiles as she held a cup in her hand. "Tea. To calm the nerves."

Lady took the cup, looking down at it.

_I'm sure it is. Calm them until they shut down completely. Probably a sedative. They wouldn't want to put poison in the blood they're going to drink._

Lady, for her part, just nodded, then turned. She took a couple of steps as she lifted the tea cup, pretending to take a sip. Once she did, the staff looked away from her, and she sat down next to a half dead tree. She glanced over her shoulder, made sure no one was looking, then dumped the tea in the tree. She set the cup to the side. Everything was going according to plan.

Naturally, a complication walked in. A man, clutching a bleeding arm with a large gash on it. The staff looked at him.

"Please, I need to see the doc. I, some guy pulled a knife on me, tried to mug me. I, I had to fight him, he, he died, I didn't mean it, but-"

"Please sir, calm down." One of the men said.

"I got a record, I can't go to no normal hospital, I-"

"The doctor has another patent, have a seat, he'll see you shortly." The woman walked over, offering him a rag to cover the wound with. He slowly walked over and took a seat next to Lady.

_Damn it! Now there's a human right in the middle of what's about to become a shooting gallery, and I have maybe a minute before these people start wondering why the sedative isn't working yet._

She looked out of the corner of her eye, and saw the staff had returned to talking among themselves. She had to act fast.

"Hey. You." She whispered. He looked up, clearly confused. "Yes. You. Don't move, don't talk, don't do anything to draw attention. But you're in danger."

He cocked his head to the side, her face looking vaguely familiar to him "What-"

"These people, they're not people. And if you stay here, you're going to die, because in about 3 minutes, this whole room is going to be a killzone."

He still looked unconvinced, so she unzipped the duffle bag sitting on her lap. She motioned at it with her head, and he looked down, seeing the armory inside of it. He looked back up, eyes wide as he realized who she was, having seen her on some newscast.

"You're-"

She put a finger to his lips, silencing him as she looked back over her shoulder. Still distracted, but she had seconds left before that was likely to change.

"If you want to live, do exactly as I say. I am about to leave. Be ready. When you hear a loud noise, dive to the floor, and crawl for the door. Get out, and  _run_." She passed a card to him that was blank, save for a single phone number. "Call this number. Tell him Lady referred you. Explain what happened, he'll get your arm taken care of and make sure there's no trouble with the cops. You can trust him." Morrison was good for it.

"Nod if you understand." He nodded. "Good."

She then raised her hand, letting it slack, as if she was suddenly tired and struggling to stay awake.

"Exxxxxquse me, I'm...not feeling well. Can...can I use the restroom?" She asked.

"Oh, sure." The woman said. "It's right over there." She pointed at a door marked "Restroom" in fading black paint.

"Thank you." She said as she got up, and made a show of staggering to the restroom door and leaning hard on it before entering, bringing her bag with her.

* * *

Dante, meanwhile, was led through a series of halls before finding himself in a doctor's office. Behind an unusually sinister, blood covered chair with more restraints then one would think needed, two hot nurses in generic nurse outfits stood, waving as he entered.

"Ohhhh, first patent of the day?"

"He looks  _sexy."_

"Wow, they didn't tell me this place came with hot babes." Dante said as he dropped his case next to the door, causing the doctor to chuckle.

"Unusually chipper for a man with a gunshot wound. That's good, it means you're very healthy."

"Well they do tell me that my libdo is unusually high for a man my age."

The doctor laughed. "A jokester, too! Now, why don't you lay down on the operating table, please, and we can begin."

"Sure, doc." As he laid down, he kept talking. "Hey, you know, they told me your name is Sawbones. That true?"

He chuckled. "I'm afraid that's just what they call a street name."

"Street name?"

"Sure." The doctor said as he started securing the restraints. "A nickname, if you will."

"Kind of a bad omen, if you ask me."

"Bah, people who say that are superstitious. Afraid of poking a little fun."

"Heh, you mind telling the girl outside that? She needs to loosen up a little herself."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, she'll be as loose as she can be soon enough."

He slapped on a head restraint. "Hey doc, can I ask a question? What's with the restraints? I feel like I'm in a shitty horror flick."

"Oh, well, we don't use anesthesia here, don't have access, so we have to strap you down, make sure you don't move while we operate."

"That so? Hey, so, how does my wound look?"

"Well, let's see, it's-" He gave a brief glance at where the blood was, and suddenly realized there was no wound. "What? But how-"

Then, a loud boom could be heard from the front of the building. Both the doctor and the nurses looked in that direction.

"What was that?"

"That? That was the signal." Dante said, laughing. "You see doc, I wasn't kidding. We really are in a shitty horror flick. But the roles ain't the way you think they are. Cause that pretty chick, she's no damsel, and me?"

He casually broke his head restraint by flexing his neck, and the doctor and nurses jumped backward in shock before looks of anger crossed their faces.

"I'm the monster here." He broke the hand restraints, and made a "Come get me" motion.

"Let's get this party started!"


	4. A Bloody Operation

3 minutes had passed since Lady entered the bathroom. One of the receptionists turned to look at the man at the door.

"She didn't look so good. Check on her, would you?"

This was said only for the benefit of the human still in the room. Everyone else already knew she was by now sleeping like a baby, and would remain so for the next several hours. The usual lie was already ready. He would enter, grab her, everyone would shake their heads sadly about her status as a "Junkie", a lie helped by the fact that half the people they grabbed _were_ junkies. Then she would be dragged into the back to wait her turn to be drained. In a way, she was luckier then her boyfriend. She would be dead long before she realized anything was amiss.

The man knocked on the bathroom door. "Miss? Everything ok?"

He waited 5 seconds, then opened the door, closing it behind him. Inside the small bathroom was two restroom stalls, one ajar an inch, and the other closed. Under the closed one, a bundle of clothing which he knew to be the leather biker suit she had on was on the floor, blocking the view he would usually have to see if someone was inside the stall. The other one appeared to be empty.

He walked up to the closed stall, and attempted to open it. It held shut, locked from the inside. He gave it a much harder tug, shattering the door. He threw it to the side and stormed inside, only to be confused when he found it empty. He looked around. On the floor sat an empty duffle bag, and next to it, an odd green pineapple shaped thing. Next to his foot sat a pin with a white cord tied around it that appeared to be attached to the door.

Lady, in the next stall over, jumped off of the toilet she had been standing on and bolted, rushing out of the bathroom, now in her normal outfit with her guns in their usual places. The man turned and started to chase her as she exited the door, only for the grenade to go off not 3 feet behind him. She didn't wait to see it happen, she had to act fast while she had the element of surprise.

Hearing the sound of the grenade, the civilian quickly did as instructed and dove to floor as the other staff members turned to look at the bathroom in shock. This timing conveniently allowed Lady to shoot the first demon directly in the head with her pistol as the civilian left her firing line, the demon unable to react to the unexpected sight behind the civilian in time. It fell, shifting from a human form to an elongated, yet still humanoid form, with blackened skin and arms as long as its body that ended in sharpened claws. The bloody bullet hole remained in its now mutated head, leaking blackened demon blood on the tacky carpet.

The other two demons were quicker to react, exploding out of their human skin like it was a suit as Lady turned her gun on them. The other male looked identical to the dead demon, while the female had blue skin rather then black, but otherwise appeared largely the same in physical appearance. The two demons jumped out of the way as she aimed, the blue one ducking under the counter while the other dove over it. The demon reached for a chair, throwing it at Lady, who rolled out of the way.

The demon leaped in the air as she rolled, aiming to come down on her with both claws and rip her in half. It never got a chance, as she came out of her roll in a crouch, drawing one of her SMGs. She pointed it up, and started unloading into the demon's chest, holding down the trigger and unloading the entire magazine into him, the force enough to keep him elevated in the air.

The second demon, thinking her distracted and open, tried to leap the counter and rush her while she was shooting the other demon. Lady responded to this by lifting the pistol and unloading two shots directly into the demon's skull while the SMG was still firing. The end result was that the blue demon fell to the ground, sliding to a stop at Lady's feet as her SMG clicked on an empty mag, causing the other demon to fall to the ground next to her.

This all happened in the span of about 10 seconds, and the civilian, now in shock, watched, his mouth flapping open and closed uselessly as Lady lifted her pistol, coldly unloading an additional two pistol rounds into each of the demon's heads, just to be sure. Then she slowly walked over to the counter, looked over it, and unloaded another two rounds in the head of the one behind it.

"I…..I…." The civilian started to try to speak, only for words to fail him. Lady looked over at him with a surprised expression as she let her empty and mostly empty magazines drop out of her weapons.

"You're still here? I told you to run." He stammered for another second as she pulled out new mags and rammed them into her guns. "Well? What are you waiting for, the cops?" She waved her SMG at him, motioning toward the door with it as she worked the slide on her pistol to ready the next bullet. "Run!"

The civilian finally scrambled to his feet and bolted through the exit. She sighed, shaking her head. Then she heard a noise behind her, and spun around, raising her weapons.

"You should be the one running, puny human!"

She beheld some giant freak of nature, not that such a thing was unusual when dealing with demons. It had the head and arms of a lion, which had eyes that were glowing red with fire, the body and legs of a goat, which had its own head sticking out of its chest that had glowing blue eyes, and the back end had a snake for a tail.

The snake, unlike the rest, seemed to be already dead. A glance revealed that it had taken the brunt of the grenade blast to the face, and being both the closest of the three parts to the blast and the weakest of the three parts, the unexpected grenade had proven enough to do the job. The other two heads, naturally, looked furious about this.

The thing itself was big enough that it had created a hole twice as large as the bathroom door just by walking through it, and the lion head was scraping against the top of the room, even though the goat body was physically hunched over.

"You killed our sister, human!" A different voice, coming from the goat head, yelled.

"Turnabout is fair play" Lady said casually as she shrugged. "How many humans did you kill?"

"Not enough, clearly!" The lion roared out.

She was silently thanking her poker face, one that was allowing her to hide her natural fear. She had full confidence in her abilities, but she recognized this was a bad situation, stuck in a small room with a large, angry brute of a demon. Her first thought was to run to get to Dante for backup, but she had no idea where the office he was at was or how far away it was, and at this point, if she couldn't hear the gunshots from his guns, he was too far, she'd never find him before this thing caught her and shattered every bone in her body.

Still, looking at the demon, he wasn't that big, and a single grenade had proven sufficient to kill a third of it. Admittedly the weakest part, but the thought gave her some confidence. That confidence invigorated her as she reached into one of her pouches, and before she even thought about it, she was talking.

"Well, maybe I understand why you waste your time being a door guard for a clinic that feeds on the weakest of humans, you're clearly the runt of whatever litter you came out of." She said with a smirk.

"What did you say!?" The goat yelled, frost starting to come out of its mouth.

"I'll rip you apart, eat your flesh, and use your bones to clean my teeth!" The lion yelled, fire coming out of his. Then Lady dropped what she had pulled out, and smoke covered the room in less then a second as her smoke grenade went off.

 _What the hell am I doing?_ She thought to herself in that instant as she bolted in the direction she knew the door to be in. _Why did I just piss it off more, I never felt the need to be a smartass to the demons before!_

The worst part was, she had actually gotten some level of enjoyment out of pissing it off, however much she wanted to deny it.

_Don't tell me I've been around Dante's smartass mouth for so long that it's rubbing off on me!?_

She didn't waste any more time on self reflection. She had to get outside, that was the only way she was going to have a chance against this thing.

* * *

 

Inside the doctor's office, the three demons tore out of their skins. The two nurses floated up into the air, the only solid part of them being white masks, the rest of their bodies consisting of little more then black mist and a pair of hands. In their hands, a pair of giant scissors appeared. They each snipped it in the air, laughing somehow.

The doctor, meanwhile, turned into a giant mosquito demon. He lifted off on large wings, pulling back behind the other demons.

"Damn." Dante said, looking disappointed. "Here I was, building myself up for something cool, and you're just an oversized bug. But hey, it could be worse, at least you don't sparkle."

"You, what are you!?" The demon yelled as his back slammed against the door.

"Name's Dante. Maybe you've heard of me?"

"Dante? THAT Dante? The-"

"Son of Sparda, you're going to eat my blood, get revenge for something, yadda yadda yadda, can we move this along?" Dante asked, spinning his hand in a circle. "I wanna get back to the office in time to order the lunch special from the pizza joint."

"KILL HIM!"

The scissor demons floated forward. One of them started spinning like a drill and flew at Dante. He just shook his head, and lifted his hand. Out of his guitar case shot his sword, which landed in his hand. He swung his sword, parrying the blow and causing the demon to fly backward. Then he jumped and delivered a clean vertical slash to the center of the mask, slashing it in half. The demon screamed, and faded away.

The second one hesitated, floating backward as Dante casually walked over to his case and pulled out his guns.

"What's wrong? Got the jitters? Need a second to steady your hand before the operation?" He asked, holding his hands wide.

"What are you waiting for? Do it!" The doctor yelled. The scissor demon approached carefully, slowly snipping at Dante. This only helped make it easier for him, and the only difference this time was that the demon was shot in the mask rather then cut. Dante held his sword over his shoulder and approached the bug.

"Wait, wait, don't kill me!"

"That line never works in the movies. What makes you think it'll work here?"

"Me, I'm a nobody! A, a, what do you call it-"

"Flunky?" Dante supplied.

"Yes, yes! Just a mere cog."

"Didn't have to tell me, bloodsucker. Any demon actually worth his salt would have fought to the death."

"I don't even drink the blood I collect! I just suck it up, then spit it into a container!"

"Dude. That's gross." Dante said as he waved his hand in front of his face. "Who the hell wants to drink secondhand blood?"

"I don't know what they do with it! Maybe they drink it, maybe not! All I know is, I put it in a container, and then, at the end of the day, my master comes and does…something with the papers, I don't know what, and then someone picks it up the next day!"

The demon pointed over at a stack of files and several rusted barrels in the back corner of the operating room. "There, over there, that's where it all goes!"

Dante put his hand to his chin, nodding. "Alright. Last question. Who's this master of yours?"

"You saw him already, he likes to stand at the front door during the day, watch the operations. Kill anyone stupid enough to cause trouble personally." He laughed, a creepy sounding noise that reverberated through the room. "He's probably out there right now, twisting that girl like a wet rag to squeeze out all the blood!"

Dante shrugged. "Na. I don't think so. Anything that tough, I'd have noticed coming in. My guess is he's a little tougher then you, but still pretty low on the pecking order. Otherwise, he wouldn't be stuck in such a shitty operation. Or he'd at least have enough self respect to hang up a painting or something."

"Whatever you say! I, I've told you everything I know. Can I go now?"

"Sure." Then he pulled out his gun and shoved it into the demon's face. "Right back to hell!"

He fired, and the demon flew backward, hitting the floor dead. Dante shrugged. "Well, that's that. Guess I should head out, enjoy the show, make sure Vergil's girl doesn't bite it. But first…"

He turned toward the files.

"Time to make a checkout from the library. Hope they don't charge late fees, I already have one bloodsucker sucking me dry of cash, I can't afford another."


	5. Seeing Red

Lady rammed the front door with her shoulder, running at a full sprint as she exited, and nearly ran right over some young looking punk with a mohawk who happened to be walking past the door at that second.

"Watch where you're going, bitch, I-"

Having no time to say anything, she tackled him out of the way of the building a second before the chimera demon crashed through the front wall and ran directly past them.

"What the fuck?" The punk said.

"Thank me later!" Lady yelled as she got to her feet and kept running, the demon turning to face her.

"There is no escape, human!"

The street outside the office had a simple layout. On the side the office was on was a set of storefronts, offices, and other buildings all connected to each other, covering the entirety of the block. On the other side was the bottom wall of a local highway, one which was solid cement all the way to the other side. The first priority was to get clear of the buildings, if the demon started shooting fire at the wrong place, the resulting blaze could take half the block out.

With this in mind, Lady sprinted across the street, already mentally cursing herself.

_Why the hell didn't I bring Kalina with me!? All the time and money I put into her, and I decide not to bring her on the job where I could really use big explosions! I'm never leaving her at the office again!_

The demon followed, only to pause as a car screeched to a halt right next to him. The shocked driver tried to shift into reverse, only for the demon to bring down his lion paw on the car hood, crushing it. The driver screamed, and opened the door to run. The demon reached up to grab them, only to flinch as it took several SMG rounds to the lion face.

"Short attention span? Or are you just blind?" Lady taunted, trying to get and keep its attention long enough for any civilians to clear the area.

"Human scum!" The lion roared. Lady, out of the corner of her eye, could see anyone still on the street running now, the familiar sound of gunshots triggering the natural reflex of "Go in the other direction" for any remaining locals. Then she saw the lion's eyes glow, and quickly ducked behind a parked car as it launched a fireball at her, setting the car ablaze.

With any nearby people gone, it was time to consider options. The standard bullets didn't seem to be having the greatest effect. She might be able to down it with small arms fire eventually, but it was risky and she had no guarantee she'd be able to keep up this cat and mouse game long enough to pull it off.

She had her shotgun, and she was pretty sure her new rounds would ruin its day, but a consequence of the rounds was that she would have to be at nearly point blank range to get the full effect. Not something to be done until she'd at least disabled the lion and the arms.

She heard the lion roar again as the demon approached the car, and suddenly, an idea came to her. An idea that would probably work. But for it to work, she had to keep the thing mad and talking.

"You're going to have a sore throat if you keep throwing a tantrum like that!" She yelled from behind the car.

"SILENCE!" She leaned her head up and saw the demon running at the car, arm folded into its body like a football player. She quickly dropped flat to the ground and rolled as the demon smashed into the car, the front wheel missing her face by inches as the car was pushed into the wall.

"You really seem to have a thing against cars." She said as she shot the lion in the face a few times with her pistol, repositioning to keep him looking down the street and not at the buildings. "I'm more of a bike girl, myself, so I get it, but this is a little silly."

He turned back toward her, stomping his hoof on the ground. "You have a big mouth for such a small, insignificant human."

"And you have a small brain for such a big demon."

He, once again, roared, and this time the goat opened its mouth and started shooting frost in front of it that flash froze the street as it neared Lady. Lady quickly jumped, backfliping a few times before jumping and wrapping her legs around a light pole that was directly beyond the frozen part of the street. She pulled out both of her SMGs and fired bursts of rounds at him.

"Come and get me!"

He stomped on the ground again, and then ran full speed at the pole she was on. Unthinkingly, he ran directly over the ice he had just created, and his hoofs did not give him great traction on ice. As a result, he didn't even get halfway before he slipped and crashed to the ground, coming to a stop near the pole, on his back.

"Wow. Didn't think that one through. Even Dante's not  _that_ stupid."

The lion opened his mouth and roared, launching a fireball at her. She twisted her body and launched herself from her position above him. As she flew over him, she pulled out a grenade and pulled the pin out.

"Here's a treat for you!"

Then she tossed the grenade right into his still open mouth, and the roar came to a very sudden halt.

"What have you-"

That was all it got out before the grenade went off. It didn't do visible damage to the outside of the demon, but the fact that the lion's eyes suddenly went out and both it and its arms suddenly went limp signaled it had done the job. The goat head, which had seemed content to let the lion handle the yelling, now yelled itself.

"Brother! No!"

Lady landed, and slowly moved herself so that her back was to the highway wall, having plenty of time as the demon slowly staggered to his feet, hampered by his lack of arms.

"Hmmm, he didn't take that well. He allergic to pineapples, by any chance? That one's a special recipe we humans like to give demons like him."

There were no more words from the demon, the goat head looking as angry as a goat could look. He stomped his hoof a few times, then ran at her, seeking to drive his horns through her. Ready for this, Lady backflipped, let her feet hit the wall, then springboarded off of it and jumped behind the demon as his head impacted the wall.

The demon staggered back a few steps, stunned by the impact. Lady slowly drew her shotgun off of her left leg, walked up behind the demon, braced herself as she held it with both hands, then pulled the trigger. Rather then fire buckshot, the gun launched what could be best described as an explosive blast directly into the demon's left leg, shredding it. She repeated this action and unloaded the second barrel into the right leg.

With no working legs and two thirds of it already dead, the demon fell on its back, just about dead, with only enough energy left to speak.

"Puny human. You think this a victory?"

"Well, it's sure as hell not one for you." She said as she opened the shotgun, ejected the spent shells, and pulled out two more.

"This means nothing! My master, he will crush you!"

"Hate to burst your bubble, but that demon? Probably already dead."

He snorted. "That insect? He is nothing. Worthless. My true master is more powerful then anything your mortal mind can imagine. He will return, and when he does, his sheer presence will be enough to drive your race to their knees!"

"He have a name?" She asked as she slowly loaded in the shells and slammed the shotgun shut.

"You will all learn his name soon enough, when he returns and-"

Suddenly, he found the shotgun jammed directly into his mouth. "Well, he's not here to save you now. And you seem like a nice, loyal servant to your master. Or maybe pet is more accurate. You have admirable work ethic, at least. Something I need to drive into Dante's thick skull. But, unfortunately, I'm here to tell you-"

Her smirk widened.

"-you're fired."

Then she fired the shotgun, and the demon visibly shook as the explosive round shredded the inside of his body. She pulled the shotgun back out, and fired another round into its skull, shattering it. She lifted the gun, blew the smoke off the top, then looked inside.

"Damn. Barrel's probably going to need a good cleaning after that."

Then she heard someone clapping and spun, pistol coming out on reflex, only to be lowered a second later when she saw Dante sitting on a nearby bench.

"Lady. I'm so proud of you right now, you have no idea."

She blinked in confusion. "What? He was big, but not smart. He was much easier to kill then those sword head demons in the Temen-ni-gru."

Dante just shook his head. "Not that. You were being such a smart ass to him. You were having fun. You were  _smiling_."

She instantly glared at him. "How long were you watching?"

"Long enough to see the good stuff. Quite a show."

"And you didn't think to step in and help?"

He got up, shrugging. "And what, step on your toes? Ruin your fun?"

She crossed her arms. "It wasn't about fun, I had to make it mad, get it nice and pissed so he would keep his mouth open long enough to feed it a grenade."

"And after that?" She looked away, not willing to admit defeat. "You didn't have to keep up the shit talk after that. But you did." He poked her in the ribs with his elbow. "Come on. Admit it. You were having  _fun._ "

A smile cracked onto her face halfway, and she gave up. "Maybe a little."

Dante laughed. "Doesn't it feel a lot better to be laughing and having fun, rather then scowling all the time?"

"Don't press your luck."

He held up his hands. "Alright, baby steps, baby steps."

"So did you actually accomplish anything, or were you just sitting there the whole time?"

Dante walked back to the bench and picked up a few files, handing them to her.

"Demons with files?"

"It ain't much. Turns out, the demons weren't eating the blood, they were collecting it." Lady raised an eyebrow. "File says where to send it. Few blank copies of shipping paperwork, notes on how to make it appear to be a bucket of "Red paint". Didn't find any records for anything past yesterday."

"Murders have been going on for at least a week." Lady muttered. "Unusually organized for a pack of demons, just enough records to do the job, nothing else."

She looked up at Dante "You did good finding this. Good work."

"Ahhhh, don't say it like that. It was literally in the same room."

"Still more effort then I expect out of you. What was it you said, baby steps?"

They both chuckled as the sounds of police sirens became audible.

* * *

"And what did you find there?"

The two were back in the Devil May Cry office, Dante sitting at the desk with his usual pizza, and Lady with her legs crossed as she worked a cleaning rod through her sawed off shotgun's barrel. Vergil, meanwhile, had returned from his personal hell and was now looking at the same files that Lady and Dante had retrieved.

"It was on fire when we showed up. They're gonna try to go through what's left, but they ain't expecting much."

"This is too clean an operation for demons." Lady said, shaking her head. "Too neat, too organized."

"No common demon, at least." Vergil said. "But there are powerful demons who have both the ability and knowledge to implement plans with both long term goals and enough organization to impede easy detection"

"Translation?" Dante asked as he grabbed another slice of pizza.

"This isn't going to end here." Lady said. Vergil nodded at her.

"This office you attacked is likely only one part of a larger operation, with the backing of a demon of considerable power behind it."

"Or a human." Lady muttered.

"Also a possibility." Vergil allowed. "Although I doubt a demon would willingly submit to serving a human. Most likely, any humans involved are separate from the demons. There to provide resources and do what common demons cannot. Cultists, worshipers, madmen…."

"People like my father…." Lady muttered as she stared into the barrel of her shotgun with a flashlight.

"Correct."

"Well, we know they're hungry for human blood." Dante said with a shrug.

"And the demon I killed mentioned something about his master "returning"." Lady said as she snapped the shotgun shut and laid it on her lap. "A summoning, or a resurrection, maybe?"

"It is difficult to guess with any certainty based on those facts alone. Human blood could serve any number of purposes. But to summon any demon of the power that demon claimed to serve, you would need cities worth of blood, and even then, I wouldn't be sure anything would come of it. I believe we can at least rule out something as simple as that."

"Morrison said he'll follow up with the police, send anything that looks like it could be related our way. But who knows how long that could take…."

Nether Lady nor Vergil looked happy about the current situation. Dante was too busy eating to really appear to care.

"I will do some digging." Vergil said. "See if I can find something. But-"

"We need to find out who this demon is." Lady said.

"Correct."

"Well, that all sounds like a plan. But it ain't happening overnight. So, let's move on to happier topics. Vergil, how was your trip to the mall?"

"That, brother, is not a happier topic. Three hours. I had to stand in  _your_ store, Lady, for 3 hours, waiting, because fools and incompetents couldn't figure out how to fix the blasted machine."

"Most of those girls are very nice, don't insult them."

"Is that so? Because they told me your shampoo brand is no longer being stocked."

"Those  _assholes!"_ Lady yelled suddenly, surprising Dante enough with the mood shift that he recoiled backward. Vergil, on the other hand, saw it coming and did not react.

"That's it, that's the last time I rely on them for my hair care!"

"It's not even that long, how many things could you possibly use on it?" Dante asked.

"More then you think!"

"So, what then?" Vergil asked. "I will not drive to another store during every trip."

"No, screw them, you're done shopping for anything but food."

" _Finally_."

"Then how the hell are we getting anything else?" Dante asked, waving a slice of pizza in Lady's direction, which she snatched out of Dante's hand.

"I have a plan. Something I've wanted to pick up anyway." Both brothers gave her a funny look. "Something special. It's a surprise."

"Should I be concerned?" Vergil asked.

"The last time she got all cagy about something, she blew a demon's head into chunks with exploding shotgun rounds."

"Relax, it'll be fine. Something we, frankly,  _need_ around here. I don't know how you two live in the modern age and never used one before. Sometimes it feels like I live with a couple of old men."

"Hey now, the doctor today said I was very young and healthy and that my libido was very high for a man my age!"

Lady rolled her eyes. "I'm  _sure_ he did."


	6. Rainbows and Sunshine

"You know, for all you hyped this thing up, it doesn't look all that impressive."

Dante and Vergil were staring at the latest addition to the Devil May Cry office, an older looking, boxy computer screen with a slightly yellowed desktop of a computer under it. Lady was standing next to it, shaking her head.

"That's because I brought a used one. Frankly, I'm afraid one of you two are going to do something stupid and break it, so I figured I'd get something on discount so that if and when it breaks, we don't lose a lot of money."

"Don't lump me in with him." Vergil said.

"If you're so worried about the cost, maybe you should have just….you know, not gotten one?" Dante said. "We never needed one before."

"I'm sorry that you two are stuck in the past, but it's the 21st century." Lady said as she crossed her arms. "If you want to run any kind of serious business, you need to have a computer. Doesn't need to be some high end monster, so long as it can run at a decent speed and store what you need."

"And why, exactly, is this so needed?" Vergil said, motioning toward the computer. "What can it do that we can't already do?"

"Well, for starters, we can store all of our files on here digitally-"

"We have the file cabinet for that, and it's not like we have a lot of files we keep." Vergil interrupted.

"We can communicate with clients and people we deal with by E-mail." Lady said, ignoring the interruption. "Think normal mail that gets sent instantly-"

"Is that not why you practically held me at gunpoint and forced me to buy a phone?"

"You can go on the internet and do research on any number of topics-" Lady said, irritation starting to creep into her voice.

"How many things do we need to know other then "Shoot or stab the demon?" Dante asked with a shrug. "And isn't that why Vergil keeps his fancy looking stock of demonology books?"

"We can remotely access and manage our bank account and do bookkeeping-"

"The bank is not two blocks down the street." Vergil said.

"And don't you already have some book with the names of all the people unlucky enough to owe you money already?"

Lady's fist started to involuntarily clench. "We can access the website of any store worth going to, order what we need, and have it delivered directly to our doorstep-"

"Ah, shopping for people like Dante." Vergil said.

"I've always wanted to try shopping in my pajamas."

Lady threw up her hands. "Are you two doing this on purpose!?" She snapped.

"I simply don't agree that this is as vital a need as you insist." Vergil said with a shrug.

"Just because it's new doesn't mean it's better." Dante said as he pointed at a jukebox in the corner that looked like it had walked out of the 80s. "And honestly, the best part is this chair." Dante took a moment to spin around on the new wheeled computer chair that came with the desk, causing Lady to sigh.

"Well, you two better get used to it, it's here, there are no refunds, and it got added to your debt."

"You did what-"

"You had no right to-"

Lady held up her hand to shut them up. "It's a business expense. Or what, you expected me to pay for it out of my own funds? Besides, compared to what you still owe, it's a drop in the bucket." She scoffed as her phone rang, and she turned away to pick it up. "Morrison?...You have a job?"

While she was turned away, Vergil and Dante shared a private hi five, celebrating a victory over her that was about to be very short lived. "Give me the details….Is that right? They'll be right down."

She hung up, and turned back around, a wide smirk on her face. "Alright boys. You don't want to play with the computer, fine, there's a job for you. Go to this address, and speak with the client." She wrote down the address and handed it to Vergil. "I have other business to deal with, I won't be going with you."

The two grabbed their weapons. Dante turned toward her, holding up a finger.

"Ain't you at least going to tell us-"

"Nope."

"Knowing the situation is vital to-" Vergil started to protest.

"You'll be fine. It's going to be a surprise."

Instantly, both brothers felt nervous about this job and what hell she could possibly have dug up for them. They hesitated.

"This is very time sensitive, come on, hurry up, don't dawdle." Lady all but pushed them out the door.

* * *

Soon enough, Dante and Vergil pulled up onto the street they were bound for. They were in Vergil's ride today. Unlike Lady and Dante, Vergil had elected to buy an actual car, a fancy looking convertible, naturally in the same shade of blue as his coat.

"I got a bad feeling about this, bro." Dante said.

"How bad could it possibly be?" Vergil asked as he pulled to a stop.

" _You have reached your destination_ " Vergil's GPS, another expense forced on him after he was an hour late to a job after getting lost on back streets, said.

"Vergil."

"Yes, brother?"

"You may not want to look to your left."

Naturally, he had no choice but to do so, and what he saw made his blood run cold.

**Rainbow Daycare Center**

**Your child's journey to excellence starts here**

They both took a moment to just stare. The building's exterior was covered in cutsy pictures and posters, images of unicorns, sparkles, ponies, and yes, rainbows were all visible. As if to punctuate the insult, heavy rain started to fall. Vergil put the roof up on the car.

"So….who's calling her?" Dante asked.

"There is only one way to decide that." Vergil said with complete seriousness. They turned toward each other, and extended a hand.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" They both yelled as they held a quick, impromptu match. Dante, the loser, pulled out his phone, and hesitated a moment before pressing the speed dial.

"Devil May Cry." The more smug then usual voice of Lady rang through the phone.

"Hey, Lady, you gave us the wrong address."

"No I didn't. Rainbow Daycare? That's the spot."

"Lady, we're not babysitters."

"That's not why you're there. There's a demon somewhere in the area who's targeting children. The client will give the details you need."

"Alright, but why'd you have to shove this one on us? Since when do you turn down a job?"

" _Well,_ I figured, given how you two were behaving this morning, that daycare was the perfect place for you. You two want to be stubborn children when I try to help you, then you can go where the children go when adults have to do work."

"You're evil."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"But-"

* * *

"Oh, sorry Dante, I'm going through a tunnel, talk to you boys later!"

She hung up, and chuckled to herself. "That'll teach them."

She started her bike back up and pulled out of where she had stopped to take the call. She was close to her destination, a craftsman she had known for some time, he had been the one that originally built the Kalina Ann for her, and preformed the regular maintenance on it, in addition to serving as her local supplier of ammo and grenades.

She turned the last corner, and instantly, she knew something was wrong. In front of his workshop that also doubled as his house, there was an ambulance and a police car. She pulled up, and dismounted, hardly even noticing the rain that had already soaked her clothes and hair. Two cops, standing around and seeing a woman with a rocket launcher on her back, started to approach her.

"Give me a minute, officers." Lady said. "I have a license for-"

"Ms Lady? That won't be necessary, we know who you are." The older of the pair said.

"What happened here?" She asked.

"Looks like a natural death. Died in his sleep, so the paramedics tell me. Unsurprising, given his advanced age."

"He's….dead?" Lady looked away, clearly upset.

"Any relation?"

"No, no." She said quickly. "Just a longtime business associate, and a friend."

The officers nodded, then turned and walked back toward the scene, where a man covered in a sheet was being wheeled out. Lady's phone rang, and she picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

"What?" She asked in a strained tone of voice.

"It's Morrison." Morrison said. "From that tone, I take it you heard already?"

"I'm watching them wheel him out now."

"I'm sorry, Lady."

There was a long moment of silence as Lady leaned on the side of a building, under cover from thr rain. "It's not…..I knew this day was going to come, sooner or later, and I think he knew it too. Still, when the time comes, it, well…."

"I understand." Morrison said. Another moment passed as Lady considered whenever or not she should bring it up.

"Not to sound insensitive, but there's another problem."

"You need someone else to do your work and keep you in stock."

"Know anyone?"

"Hmmmm…." She could hear the sound of him flipping through papers for a moment. "You familiar with the name Goldstein?"

"Only by reputation. Legendary family of gunsmiths?"

"Couple of generations back, one of them built Ebony and Ivory, the pair of guns Dante owns. And word on the street is that one of their descendants has opened a gun shop in the area."

"They any good?"

"Honest answer? Not sure. They're new to the trade, so far as I can see, got some training, but that only says so much."

Lady sighed. "I'm not going to entrust my weapons to some rookie who just finished their apprenticeship."

"Just give it a look. If you're not satisfied, I have a few other names."

Morrison told her the address. "You'll be looking for a girl by the name of Nico. I'm told she's hard to miss."

"Alright. Thanks, Morrison." She hung up, walked over to her bike as she cursed the sudden rainstorm, and took off.

* * *

The two brothers entered the daycare center. The inside was no less cutsy then the outside, the only place not covered in pink and blue walls and stickers being the front desk, at which an old woman stood. The two walked up to her.

"We're here to take care of your problem." Vergil said.

"Oh, good, good. The heating hasn't worked in days, I was wondering when you would arrive." The woman said. Dante and Vergil shared a glance, each looking at the others weapons, as if to confirm they had indeed brought their swords inside.

"The  _other_ problem." Vergil said, causing the woman to blink.

"Oh, yes. Terribly sorry. Dante and Vergil, of Devil May Cry?"

"Explain the situation." Vergil said.

"Yes, yes, well, yesterday afternoon, we were preparing the children for naptime. Then, we all heard a voice. A haunting, sad echo of a voice. The next thing we knew, we were all asleep, children and staff both. When we woke up, we found that one of the children had vanished."

"You got cameras?" Dante asked, for once looking serious.

"All the cameras mysteriously stopped working at the same time, and no one in the area saw anything. The police said that this didn't appear to be anything "Natural" and that I should contact you. We want you to be there today, to guard the children during naptime."

"What time is naptime?" Vergil asked.

"2 PM."

The two looked at a clock behind the old woman, which marked the current time as 9 AM.

"Sounds good. We'll be back at 1:30." Dante said. He and Vergil attempted to turn and leave, only for the woman to suddenly leap over the counter and grab his arm.

"No! You can't leave. You have to stay! The children have to get used to you, if a couple of armed strangers just walk into the room moments before naptime, they'll never be settled enough to go to sleep!"

"That should be the least of your concerns." Vergil said dismissively.

"But what if the kidnapper doesn't show up then, because they weren't sleeping? Besides, you already agreed to this. I told all of this to that nice man in the suit, he said he would explain all of this to you."

They looked at each other.

"She knew." Vergil said.

"Is it too late to change her nickname to "Evil Woman?"

Then they sighed, and accepted their fate.

"Where do we go?" Vergil asked.

"Right through here, just follow me." The old woman started walking toward a set of doors, ones though which they could hear the loud noises of children playing already. The two steeled themselves for what might be their hardest job yet, and entered the room.


	7. Out of Their Elements

The two brothers found themselves in a large, open playroom, with the same pink and blue color scheme that the rest of the building shared. Inside the room, about a dozen or so children were busy playing with various assorted toys, the only exception being one boy sitting at a table in the corner, drawing. As they entered, the children turned to look at Dante and Vergil. The old woman stepped around them.

"Children, children, can I have your attention please?" The children gathered around, with the exception of the boy in the corner. "Today, we are going to have two special guests. Please, if you would introduce yourselves?"

"Yo, what's up?" Dante said with a casual wave. "Name's Dante.

"…..Vergil." Vergil said with a mildly irritated look.

"Now, children, as you know, whenever someone new comes into the room, we like to get to know them. So, one at a time, anyone who wants to ask our guests a question, please raise your hand and wait to be called on."

Vergil had to resist the temptation to roll his eyes as the children raised their hands. He supposed it was too much to just sit in the corner quietly and wait for the demon. The first boy was called on.

"Mr Dante, you coat's really cool! Where can I get one?"

Dante chuckled. "You don't want to know, kid, the price tag's higher then you think."

"What about the swords?" Another boy asked.

"Family heirloom." Vergil said.

"What's that mean?" A girl asked.

"Don't mind my bro, he likes his fancy talk." Dante said, shaking his head at Vergil. "What he means is our dad gave them to us. See, he came from a place far away from here, and where he came from, he was the biggest and strongest around. And he wanted us to be big and strong too, so he gave us swords and told us to train with them.

"Woh!"

"Cool!"

"I wish my dad gave me a sword…"

One boy was practically jumping up and down, and Dante pointed at him. "So, Mr Dante, does that mean you two are strong?"

"We sure are."

"So, so, what's the secret? My parents always tell me I have to eat my vegetables if I wanna be strong. But they taste terrible!"

Dante shook his head. "Kid, I'm right there with you. That's why I eat one thing, and one thing only!"

Vergil facepalmed next to Dante as the kid asked "And what's that?"

"Pizza! The real food of champions! And for lunch today, I'll be ordering some for all of you!" The kids let up a cheer.

"Mr Vergil, are you ok? You look like you have a headache." One girl asked the facepalming Vergil.

"That is because I do"

"Don't mind him, he's a killjoy."

"Alright, that's enough questions, children." The old woman said. "It's just about time for storytime!" Cheering, the children ran off. Dante turned to Vergil.

"Come on man, lighten up a little, at least?"

"I am not happy about this." Vergil said with a scowl.

"Alright, I get that, I do, but take it out on the person responsible for it, not a bunch of random kids."

"You seem to have them well in hand. Deal with them, and I will wait for our prey."

He walked away, toward an empty corner, and Dante shook his head, going toward the kids.

"Is Mr Vergil gonna be ok?"

"Sure, he's just in timeout right now for being mean. Try to ignore him. Anyway, storytime? I got one for you kids." He knelt down in front of them. "Once upon a time, there was a mean lady with a big, pointy stick who loved to take people's money…."

* * *

Lady came to a stop in front of a building that had no sign up signaling it was a gun store. This, in itself, was not unusual. Many of the suppliers she had dealt with in the past were not open to the general public, and only did business with approved clients, and so they did not advertise their business.

Then again, most of those people also did not have police tape in an X shape on their door that said "Keep out", like you might see on a rebellious teenagers door. Lady reached for the doorknob, checking it. She found it unlocked, and took this as her signal to enter.

She instantly regretted this decision, as she beheld what could only be described as a pigsty. Random junk was tossed, thrown, and dropped at seemingly random. From magazines on the floor, to a pump action shotgun sitting on a chair, to food wrappers strewn all over the place, the list went on. Various posters plastered the walls, some of guns, some of scantly clad women, some of scantly clad women holding guns.

From the front of the store she heard frantic digging noises. She stepped forward to see a girl some years younger then her, clearly at best in her late teens, digging through a file cabinet.

"Be with you in a minute!" She yelled in a clear southern accent. She continued to dig, random items being flung out of the drawer at random. "Come on, where'd I put it?"

Lady stood there, debating what she should do next. Then she had to duck out of the way of a wrench, and slowly backed away.

"Found it!" The girl said as she stood up, holding some kind of power drill, before turning toward Lady, eyes widening behind a pair of red glasses.

"Wow, ok, hang on a second." She said as she leaned on the counter. "Just wanna take a second, admire the merchandise."

She seemed to be talking about the guns, but her eyes were firmly planted on Lady's upper chest.

"You know what, I, erm, changed my mind. I don't-"

The girl suddenly leaped over the counter. "What's wrong? Intimidated by my good looks? My amazing charm? My endless talent?"

"No, I was just hoping for someone a bit more….. professional."

The girl made a dismissive spitting noise as she waved her hand. "Professional? Bitch, please, I'm not some pansy who's gonna cater to your every whim and go all "Oh yes, how may I help you, thank you very much", screw that! I keep it real here!" She pounded on her chest with her fist to emphasize this.

"Ok…." Lady said, clearly unsure how to respond. "That's your prerogative, I respect that, but frankly, you're a little young to be working on my guns. Maybe in a few years, when you have some more experience, we can-"

Without warning, the girl reached forward and grabbed Lady's expertly concealed gun off of her.

"Yoink!" She yelled as she did so and jumped back behind the counter.

"Hey!" Lady yelled angrily. "Give that back!"

Before Lady could follow her behind the counter, the girl grabbed a blindfold and tied it onto her head. Lady paused, unsure what she was doing. Then, the girl reached down, and within seconds, she had expertly field stripped Lady's pistol, which was now lying in pieces on the counter. She untied the blindfold and looked at the pieces.

"Hmmm….a CZ-75, pretty good choice for a handgun, not what I'd pick, but everyone's got different tastes. This one's seen some heavy use, but you've done a good job maintaining it."

Lady just stared in pure shock at what she had just seen, and the girl chuckled, crossing her arms.

"Name's Nico. Pretty good, am I right? Still think I'm too wet behind the ears?"

Slowly, Lady recovered enough to speak. "I suppose-"

"Hold up!" Nico suddenly interrupted. "Turn around!"

"What?"

"You heard me!"

"But-"

"Do it!"

Flustered, Lady did as instructed, and Nico hopped the counter, slowly walking up.

"Ohhhh…..I think I'm in love…."

Lady turned her head to see her reaching for her rocket launcher.

"No touching." Lady said.

"Oh, classy lady, is she? Alright, I respect that, no groping on the first date. We'll have plenty of time for that later."

Lady had to resist the urge to make sure she was still talking about the weapon.

"Oh, but this, this is a  _fine_ weapon. Big old tube of explosions, an overclocking system that lets you build up the power of the rockets, a cluster rocket system in the back that fires micro missiles, and if I'm not mistaken, this here's a trigger to shoot out the blade."

"You can tell all that just by looking?" Lady said in mild shock.

"Sure can. And you even named it!" She said as she stared at the name, "Kalina Ann" on one of the handles. "That's good, all the best weapons need a badass name! Mind if I ask where you got it?"

"It…." She hesitated a moment. "It was my mother's name."

Nico nodded in approval. "Cool. If I ever gave my momma's name to a weapon, a rocket launcher'd be pretty high up on the things I'd wanna build too. Still…..I feel like I've seen this somewhere before, not in person, but….who are you?"

"Call me Lady."

She chuckled. "Lady, eh? I like it, and-" She paused, suddenly realizing where she'd seen the rocket launcher. She scrambled over to a stack of discarded newspapers, and dug until she found one with the headline "Who is Devil May Cry?"

"Yo, yo, yo, I know who you are!" She said as she jabbed the newspaper with her finger. "You're one of the badass demon slayers I heard about! Kicking ass and taking names!"

Lady laughed, smiling at the girl's enthusiasm. "That would be me, among others."

"Yo, you gotta let me take care of her!" Nico said, pointing at her missile launcher. "Ain't no one else in the city gonna treat her as fine as I do!"

"Hmmmm…" Lady took a second to think about it before nodding. "Alright. We'll see how this goes."

"Yes!" Nico yelled, grabbing Lady's arm and starting to drag her to the back. "Lady, I think you and I are going to get along real well. Oh, and, any chance you can get me a meeting with Dante?"

"Just Dante?" Lady asked with a raised eyebrow. "Not Vergil?"

"He don't use guns, screw him. But Dante's got a pair of my old granny's 1911's, always wanted to get a chance to see those baby's again."

"Well….I'll see what I can do, but I warn you, not always the best idea to meet your heroes."

She took another look around the dirty shop.

"Then again, maybe you'll get along just fine."

* * *

"What you reading?"

The day had gone by quickly enough. Dante had taken the task of keeping the children occupied, and was busy serving pizza to the kids that he had ordered from his usual place, with the added condition of slicing them into 16ths as opposed to 8ths. Vergil, meanwhile, tried to keep out of the way, reading a book he kept in his pocket.

Now one of the kids seemed to have taken an interest. He considered for a moment how to respond.

"Poetry." He said after a long pause. The boy considered this, then laughed at him.

"Poetry? That's for  _girls_! Are you a  _girl?"_

"It is unwise to judge a book by its cover." Vergil said dismissively. "There are women I know who are into what you would no doubt consider things only for boys, and vice versa. Besides which, poetry is not just for girls. This book, for instance, was written by-"

"You're a  _girl!"_  The boy jeered.

"And you are an imbicle."

"At least I'm not old!"

Vergil blinked, not expecting that retort. "What? I'm not old, I'm only-"

"You have white hair! That means you're old!"

"That's not….we were born with this hair color!"

"Then you were born old!"

Vergil had to just stare. He had no retort for this "logic".

"Why is everyone calling me old today?" He muttered, thinking back to his earlier conversation with Lady.

"You're a freak!" The boy yelled. "Like Billy!" He pointed over in the corner, where the boy who had been drawing still sat, having not moved since they arrived.

"Jimmy! That is enough!" The old woman who was their client walked over, and pointed at a corner. "5 minutes in the time out corner!"

Jimmy pouted for a moment, then stormed off, arms crossed.

"I apologize for his behavior." The woman said.

"I assure you, I've heard far worse from my brother." Vergil said, waving it off. He motioned his head toward Billy. "Is there something wrong with the boy?"

"Ah, Billy, he's a sad case. Very shy, and he's deaf. Hasn't been able to hear a peep since he was born."

"No hearing…is that right?" Vergil said, thinking about the implications.

"Indeed. He can lip read, but he can't hear, and speaking, as a result, is difficult for him.

"I see…..thank you." Vergil put the book away and rose. He walked over to the pizza boxes, grabbed a slice, then slowly walked over to the table Billy was at. He set the plate down in front of the boy, who looked up from his work, which appeared to be a crude drawing of Dante and Vergil in crayon.

"May I sit?" He asked. The boy nodded, and he took a seat next to him. There was a pause as Vergil, out of his element, struggled to figure out what to say.

"The drawing is a good one." That felt like an empty platitude to Vergil, but the boy seemed to appreciate the compliment, as he smiled. "Do you draw often?"

He rapidly nodded yes.

"I see. And I'm told you have no hearing ability." The boy's smile fell, but before he could look away, Vergil held up his hand.

"Then you may be able to help me. You were here yesterday afternoon? During naptime?"

Slowly, the boy nodded. "There was an incident at that time. Something came, and took one of the children. It used its voice to put everyone to sleep. But if you could not hear it, it may not have effected you."

The boy's face turned to one of fear, and he looked at the clock, then back to Vergil.

"It may be back again, yes."

The boy then looked at Vergil's sword, and over at Dante. He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"We are here to make sure it does not happen again. But any information we can gather before the fight may help. If you have seen it-"

The boy held up a hand to stop him, then turned a couple of pages in his book, until he came to a drawing of a horrific, green skinned woman in a torn white dress, one who was floating, with long, sharp talons, and hair that extended at random in all directions behind her. She was looking up at the air, appearing to scream. Vergil easily identified her as a Banshee.

The boy looked back at Vergil, pointing at himself and then holding up an unsteady thumbs up with his head cocked to the side.

"You did well, yes. When the time comes, pretend to be asleep with the other children. We will ensure that no harm comes to anyone else."

The boy nodded, and Vergil looked at the clock. 1:45. He rose, and walked back toward Dante. It was time to prepare.


	8. Screaming Killer

All that was left was the waiting. The children had just finished laying down. Vergil sat motionless on a chair, his sheathed katana planted between his legs. Dante, meanwhile, had somehow found a magazine laying around which he was now reading as he ate some leftover pizza. Vergil hadn't even bothered commenting on it.

Then they heard it. It was just as the woman had said, a haunting, foreboding, almost entrancing voice that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere. They saw the change in the children immediately, as they fell into a deep sleep. A mist started to form in the middle of the room, and as one, the brothers rose. The mist became solid, and the woman formed.

The picture failed to do her justice, as in addition to being green skinned, having long, disheveled hair, elongated fingernails for claws, and floating, her skin was also molding and rotting and torn, as if she had been submerged in water for weeks. And the picture could not hope to convey the smell, the sheer odor that smelled like a long rotten dead body, the stench of death. Dante waved his hand in front of his nose.

"That's just terrible. You couldn't even bother to put on some perfume before you showed up, you old hag? Some makeup?"

"After we're done, she'll need more then that to improve her looks." Vergil said. "This shouldn't take long."

"Damn it, Vergil! You're not supposed to say shit like that! Now something's going to go wrong!"

"Life is not one of your movies, brother. We have slain far tougher then this on our own. Let us deal with this and go home."

They both ran at the Banshee, raising their swords and slashing at it. It responded by lifting its hands and intercepting each of their blades with one hand, the swords clashing with the claws as they were stopped dead.

"What?" Vergil said in shock.

"Told you." Dante said, shaking his head. Then the Banshee screamed, an ear piercing scream that was completely unlike the sounds she had been making earlier. Both of the brothers staggered backward, clutching at their heads. The children all woke up at the same time, and started adding their own screams to the chaos. The demon tried to float past the brothers to get to the children, only for Vergil to teleport in front of it, swinging his sword to intercept it.

"We have to get this thing out of the building!" Vergil yelled. Dante, however, was already on it, standing by a nearby window as he threw his sword at the demon's back, boomerang style.

"Over here, you hag!" Dante yelled as he spun his pistols and started firing them. The demon flinched as the sword hit her back, and turned as she was shot. Then she flew at him, claws extended, and he recalled his sword, holding it up to block the hit. The force of the blow was enough to throw him out the window.

Vergil looked back at the kids.

"Stay here!"

Then he jumped out the window after him.

* * *

Outside, the rain had only gotten heavier since the day started, and in addition to that, a fog had started to kick up, obscuring vision somewhat. Vergil could see the red of Dante's coat, and ran over to him, sword at the ready. He found Dante with his guns up, pointing into the fog.

"Did she flee?" Vergil asked.

"Na, don't think so. She's playing games. Hiding in the fog, doing a hit and run."

"The tactics of a craven." Vergil said dismissively as he lined up with his back to Dante.

"Do me a favor, bro? Stop shit talking the demon, let me do that. Look what happened the last time you did it."

Vergil slashed at the air as he saw movement, his sword clashing off of the demon's claws as she appeared, then fled back into the fog.

"You worry too much. Were she truly strong enough to defeat us, she would not need to resort to such tactics."

Another ear piercing scream cut through the air, staggering the two as the demon rushed Dante, who gave a wild swing to deflect the blow.

"I think she heard that." Dante said. Then they heard noise from up above, and instinctually, both of them rolled forward as the demon came down from above, slashing her claws around her in an attempt to cut them both to ribbons. Missing, she screamed again, and her body started to give off a purple mist.

"Vergil. Is that normal?" Dante asked.

"It is not."

Both of them could sense it. The demon had, out of nowhere, somehow grown even more powerful than it already was, for seemingly no reason.

"Well, guess I'm not making it in time to order a late lunch." Dante said with a shrug.

"We will need to fight as one" Vergil said with an eyeroll.

"We could, but...better idea. Think you can keep it distracted?"

"That's not how I fight."

"We got a bunch of kids in there, Vergil. Your honor code can go sit in the timeout corner. Sides, it ain't gonna be you doing it." Dante started to walk backward, and the demon turned to follow him, only to get pelted in the back by 8 ethereal summoned swords that were rapidly fired by Vergil, appearing out of thin air next to him. It turned, screaming.

"I am your opponent." Vergil said as he twirled his sheath, stepping forward. The demon flew forward, rapidly slashing with her claws, each one fended off with a swing of Vergil's sword, the force enough that he was not able to muster an easy counterattack. Sensing a direct assault was getting him nowhere, he teleported backward several feet and reached for his sheathed blade, preparing to use a technique where he would generate an orb of energy around the demon that would explode and cut anything inside to ribbons.

At least, that was the plan, but the demon screamed yet again before he performed the move, destroying his concentration and preventing him from completing it. She flew at him again, and he teleported directly into the air, aiming to come down on her head with the sword. Before he impacted, the demon's hair suddenly wrapped itself around Vergil. He grunted in annoyance, and swung his sword, chopping the hair off and freeing himself.

He landed in front of the demon and spun, grasping his blade hilt again. Then, Dante appeared, sliding toward the distracted demon, driving his blade through her chest. She opened her mouth to scream, and Vergil responded by shoving his blade into her mouth and through the back of her head. Even with two blades in her, she continued to struggle, and so Dante drove his blade up through her body and head, while Vergil drove his blade down through her body.

In this manner, the demon was cut into three rough parts, and they each fell to the ground, the demon slain. As the demon died, the rain finally died off, the fog clearing away to reveal sunlight.

* * *

Over at a nearby bench, a hooded man in a yellow raincoat sat, having watched the fight between the two brothers and the demon as best as he could in the fog. He said nothing as the demon died, and the children rushed out of the building, cheering. As Dante raised his fist up and attempted to convince Vergil to do a fist bump with him, the man pulled out a notebook and pen, and wrote a few notes on it. Seemingly satisfied with this, he rose and turned, walking away unnoticed by anyone, seemingly just another man out for a walk.

* * *

"You think she's still mad?"

The two brothers now sat back in the Devil May Cry office. Lady had not been there when they returned, and the "New" computer was mysteriously missing.

"Most likely. You know how she can hold a-"

The door suddenly opened, and Lady stepped inside, already unzipping her biker suit and hanging it up.

"You're back." She said. "How'd it go?"

" _Swimmingly"_  Vergil said sarcastically.

"Apparently you made a friend." Lady said. Vergil raised an eyebrow at Lady as she held up a piece of notebook paper. "Someone stopped me on my way in, ask me to pass this along to you two." She held a crayon drawing of Dante and Vergil standing over the dead Banshee, surrounded by various children, and with an elaborate sun in the sky.

"Oh hey, that's not half bad." Dante chuckled.

"I think it's  _very sweet_." Lady said in a slightly mocking tone of voice, seeming to sense Vergil's eyeroll. "I'll hang it on the fridge." She walked over to said fridge, looking for a magnet. "So, a Banshee, if I'm seeing this picture correctly?"

"An unusually strong one." Vergil said, welcoming the change of topic. "It somehow managed to stop both of us at the same time, and after engaging it for a minute, it went into a powered-up state I've never seen before. We were still able to fell it without serious issue, but for a lesser demon like that to put up such a fight is...highly unusual."

Lady nodded. "Well, weird things like that happen sometimes. Variance between demon strength levels isn't unheard of even within the same species of demon."

"Perhaps..." Vergil said, sounding unconvinced.

"So, what happened to the computer?" Dante asked, pointing at the empty space where it once sat. Lady instantly frowned, walking over and sitting next to them, clearly reluctant to admit what she was about to say.

"...It broke."

Both Dante and Vergil looked at each other. Dante laughed, and even Vergil managed a chuckle.

"What happened? You didn't own the thing 12 hours!" Dante asked incredulously.

"It overheated, the thing was old enough to where it didn't automatically shut down...and it caught fire." Lady stared at the floor, clearly deeply unhappy as both of them stared at her.

"Wow. That's...pretty bad." Dante said. "And you thought  _we_ were gonna be the ones to break it!"

She sighed, clearly having accepted her defeat. "Yes, yes, you were right, you win. I'll eat the cost of the thing, and I'm not ordering another. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." Vergil said with a smirk.

"What about the shopping thing?" Dante asked. "We back to the usual?"

"No, no, I'll just do it on my phone from now on."

There was a long moment of silence.

"What do you mean, exactly?" Vergil asked.

"Well, I can do pretty much all of what I was talking about earlier on my new phone." Lady said as she held up an expensive looking brick of a phone with a touchscreen.

"...You can do that?" Dante asked, before spreading his hands. "Then what the hell was the point of the computer in the first place!?"

"Image, Dante, image." Lady said, shaking her head. "Something I don't expect you old men to understand."

"Hey, those kids were complementing my swanky coat earlier-"

"Just because I refuse to use your "Modern" weapons doesn't mean I'm old-"

Then a knock came at the door, and Lady suddenly hopped up, smiling.

"Oh, good, it's here!" She said as she walked to the door. Dante and Vergil looked at each other.

"Lady." Dante said cautiously.

"What did you order  _this_ time?"

"Oh, relax." She said, waving a dismissive hand as she reached the door. "This time, I got something that all of us can enjoy. Guaranteed." She opened the door and stuck her head out. "Just bring it in here, stick it right over there, thanks!"

She stepped out of the way, and two delivery men dragged in-

"Holy shit, is that a pool table?"

Indeed, they were dragging in a pool table, and a third man placed a large rack of pool ques next to it, along with balls and chalk.

"I figured we could all have some fun with it." Lady said. "And I'm even paying for it. I'll make back my money in no time off of you two."

"Heh, we'll see about that." Dante said with a smirk.

"I've never played before." Vergil admitted.

"I think you'll like it, Vergil. It's a game of precision, of planning, of knowing what you want to do three steps ahead of time, and then executing the plan." She reached into one of her pouches, withdrew a wallet, and handed a few bills to the waiting deliveryman, who took it and left. Then she grabbed two ques off the rack, and threw them at the two brothers, who caught them.

"Who's ready to break it in?"

* * *

_I'll be taking a couple of days break before the next installment, and next time, we're going to be taking a break from serious situations for a chapter or two in favor of some more lighthearted fare. Stay tuned._


	9. A Simple Plan

The clattering of pool balls striking one another broke the early morning silence. At the pool table, Dante and Vergil were in the middle of a game of 8 Ball. Dante leaned over to take his next shot.

"Hey, so Vergil." He said. "You looked at the calendar today? You know what day it is?"

"Tuesday?" Vergil asked, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

"No, no, no. It's been a year, now, since that day on the tower." Dante took his shot, failing to knock anything into a pocket.

"Is that right?" Vergil said as he walked over to take his own shot.

"Yep. Been a wild ride, bro. You told me last year that I'd be standing here, playing pool with you, I'd have laughed in your face."

"Well, I, for one, am happy things have worked out well so far." Vergil said as he took a shot, landing one in a pocket.

"For the most part." Dante said, shrugging.

"And what is  _that_ supposed to mean?" Vergil asked, looking over at him. Dante jerked his thumb back over his shoulder, toward Lady's bedroom door.

"How much longer you gonna wait to make your move, bro?"

Vergil sighed. "It's a complicated situation."

"No it ain't." Dante said with a shake of his head.

"Let us not pretend you're an expert on romance, brother."

"All I'm saying is, she ain't getting any younger." Dante said, shrugging again. Then Lady's door opened, and she stepped out, holding something behind her back.

"Good morning." She said.

"Yo." Dante said with a casual wave. Vergil just nodded at her.

"Vergil." Lady said, slowly walking up to him. "You know what today is?"

"Dante and I were just discussing that, yes." Vergil said, nodding as he put down the pool cue.

"It's been a year since we first met." Lady said.

"Among other things." Vergil said, causing Dante to wince behind him.

"….I try to focus on the positives of what I got out of that day. I know it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. But, I saw something when I was out shopping the other day that made me think of you."

From behind her, she pulled out an elaborately carved wooden box. Vergil took the box and opened it.

"It's a cleaning and maintenance kit, for your sword. Very good quality. Or so I was told by the clerk, I'm no expert in swords, if it's not, I can take it back, and-"

"It's perfect." Vergil said, raising his hand to silence her.

"Ok, good. Good. I admit, was a bit nervous. Of course, we didn't discuss anything beforehand, so don't worry, I'm not expecting anything in return."

Vergil opened his mouth to speak, only for Dante to talk loudly behind him.

"Oh, na, don't worry, Lady, he totally got you something too."

Vergil blinked, then turned around, staring incredulously at Dante.

"I did-"

"I know you did, bro, remember, you showed me earlier?"

Lady blinked, clearly not expecting that. "Oh. You did?"

" _Sure_ he did." Dante said with an exaggerated nod. "He just wanted to wait until after dinner to give it to you."

"Oh." Lady's face seemed to light up a little. "Well, in that case, I'm looking forward to the surprise, Vergil. Anyway, I just wanted to give that now. I'm gonna go and freshen up, back in a bit."

She turned and walked back into her room. Vergil slowly turned to face Dante, glaring at him.

"I am going to strangle you."

"What?" Dante asked with an innocent expression on his face.

"She said she was fine with not getting anything. Why did you jump in like that?"

"Come on, man, you saw her face. She said that cause she probably doesn't want to impose, and she can't exactly demand gifts from someone she's not dating. But women, they never say what they mean. She wants something, doesn't have to be big, just something to show you give a shit, you know?"

"May I remind you, brother, that I  _don't_ , in fact, have a gift for her?" Vergil said, an angry edge to his voice. "And if I just suddenly leave, she'll probably figure out why?"

"Sure, sure." Dante said, raising his hands to placate Vergil. "But don't worry, cause I got a plan."

"I'm  _already_ concerned." Vergil said as he rolled his eyes.

"No, no, no, it'll work! See, you can't leave without her wondering why. But I can."

"I am  _not_ trusting you to buy her an appropriate gift, brother, no offense."

Dante shook his head. "Not planning on it. But the thing people forget about us? We're twins."

Vergil stared at Dante as he realized what he was talking about.

"That is the dumbest plan I've ever heard."

"Including the time I tried to build an indoor water slide on the floor of the old house?"

"…..Second dumbest." Vergil amended. "But regardless, this will never work."

"This will never work." Dante said in a decent imitation of Vergil's voice.

"Dante….."

"Look. We only have to keep this up long enough for you to get something. That's what, maybe an hour?"

"She is not a fool. She'll see right through you."

"I'm just gonna sit here, hide behind a book, and respond to anything she says in grunts. You know how you get when you get into a book, she'll never notice." Vergil frowned, and Dante continued. "Come on, I saw it in a movie-"

"That is  _not_ helping your case."

"Look, bro." Dante put his hand on Vergil's shoulder. "You don't want to disappoint the lady, do you?"

"…..We're going to look like fools if we get caught."

"Life's all about risk."

Vergil finally sighed. "Fine. You win. Let's hurry up and do this, the quicker the better."

They started switching outfits. Vergil reached up and messed his hair up in Dante's style, while Dante slicked his back.

"Now, what are you going to get her?"

They both looked at each other.

"Guns." They both said at the same time.

"As it happens, Lady's been on my ass for a while. Some gunsmith or someone wants to meet me. I keep putting it off, but so long as I'm doing you a favor, you can do me one, and deal with that for me while you buy your gift."

"And you don't think she won't notice?" Vergil asked, annoyed with the additional complication.

"She's never met me before, and I don't plan to go later. It'll be  _fine."_

With the swap complete, Dante passed his pistols to Vergil.

"No."

"Apparently they wanna see my guns. Just take em, I ain't asking you to use em."

Vergil rolled his eyes and snatched them.

"I'm leaving. Don't screw it up!" Vergil turned and walked out the door, mounting Dante's bike and driving away.

* * *

A few minutes later, Lady stepped back out of her room, combing her wet hair. She walked past "Vergil", who now had his head deep in a book, and into the kitchen.

"Where's Dante?" She asked. There was a pause of a second before he pointed at the exit. "He say where he was going?"

"Pizza." He said, responding with the minimal amount of words. Lady scoffed.

"Figures. Surprised he didn't order delivery." He just held up a hand in a shrugging motion. Lady entered the kitchen, grabbing an apple. "Want me to grab you something for breakfast?"

He just shook his head no, only the top of his head being visible enough for Lady to see the motion. She looked at the cover of the random book Dante had grabbed.

"Reviewing the basics again, Vergil?" She asked, looking at the book, Basics of Demonlolgy. He just gave her a thumbs up, an action that caused her to raise an eyebrow, confused by the uncharacteristic motion.

"Right. Well, I was going to invite you to a game of pool, but I see you're busy. I'll just go clean my guns. Maybe later?"

He nodded. Lady frowned, and then turned around, walking back into her room.

* * *

Like Lady before him, Vergil hesitated as he reached the door to Nico's shop and saw the "Keep out" police tape in the shape of an X on the door, wondering if he had the wrong building. Then he tested the door, and entered. Inside had also not improved in terms of how clean it was.

"Yo?" Vergil yelled, instantly feeling weird attempting to copy Dante's speech patterns. Up from behind the counter popped Nico.

"Yo, what's-" Then she gasped. "Oh shit, you're him. You're Dante!"

"Yep. Totally him." Vergil said, nodding. "So, where's the gunsmith?"

"You're looking at her."

Vergil looked terribly unamused. "I'm on a time crunch, kid, so could you quit the jokes?"

Nico held up her hands. "Oh, well excuse me, princess. If you're in that much of a hurry, you can hurry your ass out the door."

They stared at each other for a long, tense moment.

"Well, if you're gonna stick around, come on! Produce the goods!"

"What?" Vergil shifted from annoyance to confusion.

"The guns! Let me see them, damnit!"

"Ah." Vergil took out the guns, and Nico snatched them out of his hand.

"Ohhhhhhh, wow! I've always wanted to see these. Such masterworks!" She pointed at a picture on one of them. "That there, that's my granny. She built the guns."

Vergil nodded, trying his best to look like he cared, but not succeeding that well.

"So, how have they been working for you?"

Vergil stood there for a minute, considering what to say.

"…..They do the job."

Nico just stared at him. "That….that's all you got to say?"

"I'm also here to shop."

She handed the guns back to Vergil, shaking her head in disappointment. "Shop? Alright, this for you, or someone else?"

"A gift."

Nico nodded, turning toward the store. "Ok. What you looking for?"

Vergil hesitated, only now realizing he didn't really know much of anything about guns and what to ask for when shopping for them. Nico sensed this pause, and turned, looking confused.

"Just…let me see your handguns."

Another moment of staring passed by before Nico turned and waved him over to the handguns.

"Alright, all the handguns are over here. Take a look around, see what catches your eye."

Vergil, frankly, had no idea what made any of these guns different. So he kept the question simple.

"Which one is the most powerful?"

Nico blinked. "In terms of sheer firepower? Unless you want a revolver, the best option is gonna be the Desert Eagle, no question. But-"

"I'll take it." Vergil interrupted. Nico started chuckling.

"So, the person you're buying for. They a poser?"

"A…what?" Vergil looked at Nico like she had grown a second head.

"A poser. A fake. All bark, no bite."

"No?" Vergil clearly wasn't getting it, and she shook her head.

"That's a range toy, boy."

"A what?"

Nico groaned. "The gun sucks!"

"But you said-"

"You didn't let me finish!"

"I just want-"

"Shut it!"

"But-"

"My turn to talk!"

Vergil threw up his hands, giving up. Nico sighed.

"The thing sucks. Sure, it'll punch a nice hole in anything you can hit. If you can hit it. Thing's got so much kickback and recoil that you'll be lucky to hit anything even if you're standing still, two handing it. It sucks. Get something else, unless you like being laughed at."

Vergil scratched his head, now very unsure. "…..What do you recommend?"

"What do I-are you kidding me?"

"What  _now_?" Vergil said, clearly getting irritated.

"I can't believe I have to explain this. Are you sure you've used guns before?" Vergil did not respond to that, and she shook her head. "Alright, look, homeboy. Buying a good handgun is like buying a car, or a sword. There's plenty of kinds, and at the end of the day, they'll all do the job. But every person has their own personal preferences for what they like. Some people like Berettas, some people prefer Glocks, others, like  _you_ , stick with the classics. And most of them ain't gonna be happy with the wrong type."

Vergil took a long moment to consider this.

"Maybe I should just buy a couple of clips of ammo."

Nico's face went blank, disbelieving what she had just heard.

"Say that again."

Vergil just stared, unsure what had happened. "I said, maybe I should just buy a couple of clips of ammo."

Nico started involuntarily twitching as she suppressed the urge to throw him out of the store then and there.

"…Let me check in the back."

Then she walked away as quickly as she could.

* * *

Lady was busy finishing the cleaning of one of her pistols when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID, and picked it up.

"Hi, Nico! How's it going?"

"Oh. My. God. You were  _so_ right, girl!"

Lady leaned back in her chair. "Hmmm? Right about what?"

"Never meet your heroes! Dante's an idiot! I can't believe you let this fool run around with my granny's guns! I'm about to bitch slap his ass!"

"Wait, hang on a minute, slow down." Lady said as she stood up. "Dante's in your store? Right now?"

"I wish he wasn't! He comes in, doesn't have any idea what he's talking about, tries to buy a goddamned Desert Eagle for someone-"

"He what!?"

"-doesn't have anything useful to say about the guns, and then, the kicker."

"Go on." Lady said, nodding.

"He then asked for a couple of  _clips_ of ammo. Not magazines.  _Clips_."

Lady blinked, the gun lover in her horrified by what she was hearing. It almost sounded like something she'd expect to hear from-

She paused, mid thought. "Nico. You said the Desert Eagle was for someone else?"

"Said it was a gift, ya."

Slowly, Lady approached her door. She very quietly opened it, and peeked outside. She could see what from a distance appeared to be Vergil, only he was leaning back in the chair, feet on the desk and hands behind his head, fast asleep in the same kind of pose she always caught Dante in.

Slowly, she closed the door. Then she broke down, and started laughing harder then she could remember laughing for a  _long_ time, hard enough that she ended up sitting on the floor, still laughing.

"…Lady? Are you ok?" Nico asked. "Someone didn't just throw a can of laughing gas in your office, did they?"

Lady had to stop, and take a second to breathe. "I…..I'm ok, Nico. But the image of Vergil walking around, trying to pretend to be Dante and shop for a gun-" She broke off, laughing uncontrollably again for a few seconds.

"He did WHAT!?" Nico yelled.

"I can't believe he willingly subjected himself to that! Haha, it's so cute! I never thought he'd do something like that, just for me!"

Nico paused, giving Lady a few more seconds to recover.

"So, how we playing this, girl?"

Finally getting herself under control, Lady got up, and smirked.

"Oh, we're going to have some fun with this. I have a plan. Here's what I want you to do….."


	10. Don't Mess With A Lady

The loud sound of Lady's bedroom door slamming shut jolted Dante awake. Quickly realizing Lady was coming back downstairs, he grabbed the book he had placed on the desk and held it back in front of his face. She could hear her footsteps slowly approaching him.

" _Vergil."_

Dante blinked. She hadn't said that in an annoyed tone, or any kind of tone he'd ever heard her use before. No, if anything, she was talking like she was turned on all of a sudden. Then he felt her grab the top of his book and push it down, and he suddenly got very nervous.

"...Lady?"

She had, for the first time Dante could ever remember, put on lipstick, something he didn't even know she owned, and she had gone out of her way to undo the first couple of buttons on her long-sleeved shirt, causing her to show a decent amount of cleavage. She batted her eyelashes at him.

" _Vergil._ How long are you going to make me wait for you?"

Dante was frozen. He had been prepared for many possible situations, but this is the  _last_ thing he had expected to happen. Lady leaned down, placing her hands on the desk.

"I've been waiting this whole year for you. The big, strong man, the Son of Sparda, to claim what's his."

Dante started to sweat, and gulped. "Lady, you're drunk." It had to be the only explanation for this sudden mood shift, even if he couldn't smell any alcohol on her breath.

"Oh, yes. Drunk on  _love."_  She climbed onto the desk, sweeping the stuff on it off of it as she placed her legs on top of it, sitting on her hands and knees. "I only want  _one_ thing as a gift. Not something you can buy. I. Want. You."

She started to reach forward slowly to grab Dante's face, and he slid backward in his chair, cursing his luck. If this had been anyone else, literally anyone else, he'd be all over it. But this was Vergil's girl, and he was currently pretending to be someone else. If he actually did anything, even he'd never survive the retaliation from these two when they figured it out.

"But, but, Lady, I thought we said we just wanted to, to be friends?" Dante said with a nervous stutter. Lady frowned.

"I know what I said. But that doesn't mean we can't be friends...with  _benefits_." She crawled forward on the desk, swinging her legs over the side of it and kicking them back and forth.

_She always had the hottest legs I've ever seen on a chick, I do wonder what's under the rest of-NO! Focus, Dante!_

He shook his head rapidly in an attempt to clear his thoughts. "Look, Lady, it's just, this isn't the best time, I-"

"Awwww, come on." Lady said, pouting as she hopped off the desk. "What is it? Do you...do you not love me? Am I not pretty enough for you?"

"Nononononono!" Dante said, waving his hands in front of him. "I can tell you for sure that's not the issue! But I wanted to finish reading that book, and-"

"The book you were reading upside down when I came downstairs?" Dante's sweating only increased as he failed to think of a response to that. Lady strutted forward, placing her hand on Dante's chest. He attempted to back up only to find the back of his chair against a wall. "Why are you lying to me?"

"It's not that, no, I-"

"No, you would never  _lie_  to me, right,  _Vergil?"_

She leaned in closer, and as her face neared his, she let her other hand slip behind him, grabbing his phone and wallet out of his pocket. Dante, meanwhile, was struggling to try to think of something to say to get out of this.

_What would Vergil say, what would Vergil say..._

"It's not that I don't want to, it's...I wanted to do it right. Something like a...candlelight dinner."

She blinked, and smiled. "Oh. You were going to do that for me?"

"I was! But, well, if you want to, ahem, skip the foreplay, maybe go wait in your room, give me...20, 30 minutes to get ready?"

_Long enough for me to call Vergil and drag him back here_!

Lady seemed to accept this, and leaned back up straight. Dante sighed in relief.

"Alright then. I'll be waiting. Just give me one minute, something I want to do before I go up."

"Sure, sure." Dante said as she walked further into the room, and he slid back up to the desk. Lady, meanwhile, walked over to the pool table, and grabbed a cue. She looked at the table, judging the positions of the balls and what she would have to do to get what she wanted. Then, she leaned down on the table, readying her shot.

"Hey, Dante."

On reflex, Dante looked up, only realizing his mistake when he saw Lady's wide smirk. She hit the ball, and sent it bouncing off the side of the table, hitting Dante directly in the forehead. The chair fell backward, and Dante hit the floor.

"Shit!" He yelled. Slowly, he got up, and saw Lady carefully examining one of her pistols.

"Lady..." Dante tried to hold up his hands in a non-threatening motion. "Look, I, I can explain..."

"Hmmmmmm...how many bullets do you think it would take to get through that thick skull of yours, Dante?"

She made a show of slowly loading a magazine in and cocking the slide on her pistol backward. Dante debated continuing. Then he bolted, fleeing out the door of the office. She waited a moment, then broke down in laugher again. She put her pistol away, redid the buttons on her shirt, and cleaned the lipstick off of her lips. She gave Dante a minute to get clear, then grabbed her bike keys.

* * *

Vergil, meanwhile, was having his own fun.

"What do you mean, you have no  _clips_ of ammo?" He said, clenching his teeth.

"Just what I said, dumbass." Nico said, smirking. "We don't sell em."

"You expect me to believe you sell guns, but not clips?"

"Yep."

The two stared each other down for a long moment.

"Then I will go elsewhere." He turned to leave.

"Now, hang on a second. You seriously gonna buy someone ammo for a gift?" Vergil paused. "Come on. Any serious gun nut has stacks of the things lying around. It's not going to mean shit."

"Then stop wasting my time and tell me what you suggest." Vergil said as he turned to face Nico. She reached over and grabbed something.

"Holsters." She said as she held up a pistol holster. "Everyone always underestimates the importance of a good gun holster. But if you're going to be doing a lot of carrying around guns, you  _need_ a good holster to go with it."

"Fine. Whatever you say. I'll take it." Vergil just wanted to get the hell out of here at this point.

"Cool. That'll be 3,000 dollars."

Vergil blinked.

"WHAT!?" He roared in shock.

"They don't come cheap." Nico said with a shrug.

"I refuse to pay that!" Vergil yelled, pointing in Nico's face.

"Fine. No skin off my back. Good luck finding a better deal in the city."

Vergil was furious. But he had no idea of this was the standard price or not, and he didn't have time to drive around the city and hunt for a better deal. He was lucky he hadn't cashed his latest payment into the bank yet.

"Fine. I think you're ripping me off, but you win."

He reached for his pocket, pulled out a wallet, and opened it. Only to find it empty.

"Wha-"

Then he realized. This wasn't his wallet. This was Dante's wallet. His wallet was still back in his coat, with Dante. He stood still, quietly shaking with rage.

"What's wrong? Leave your money in your other coat?"

Vergil did not dignify her with a response. Slowly, he turned around, only to see the exit opening.

"Hey, Nico!" Lady said happily as she walked in.

"Hey, girl, what up?" Nico said, waving as Vergil froze, thinking only one thing.

_Dante, why didn't you call me and warn me she was coming here, you FOOL!?_

Lady, meanwhile, saw "Dante" standing there, and made a show of looking surprised.

"Oh, Dante, didn't know you were here."

"...Surprise?" Vergil said weakly. Lady walked past him.

"So, what brings you down here, Dante?" Lady asked.

"He said he was shopping for a gift for someone." Nico said, piggybacking off of Lady as planned.

"Oh, a gift?"

"Yep. Man was prepared to drop 3 big ones on it."

"Ohhhhhhhh." Lady turned to Dante, smirking. "Dante. Have you finally met a girl?"

Vergil was standing still, petrified at what was happening.

_She knows. She has to know. But I don't know that for sure. And if she doesn't, I can still get out of this situation. I will not admit defeat._

"Well..." Vergil scratched the back of his head. "I've been trying to keep it on...er, the downlow. But, ya, I might have met someone."

"Oh, I'm happy for you, Dante." Lady said. "A girl might be just the thing you need. A good girl will whip you right into shape. Now, you have to share the details."

"What?" Vergil's eyes widened. "I do not have to do any such thing!"

"Oh, come on." Lady said, frowning. "This is the first I've ever heard of you having a serious relationship with someone. You don't want to screw it up."

"Come on, give us all the juicy details!" Nico said, leaning forward on the counter.

"No!" Vergil yelled.

"At least tell us her name." Lady said. "You can do that much, right?"

Vergil glanced around, unsure of what name to give this fake woman. His eyes passed over one of the Berettas.

"Her name is...Betty."

"Betty?" Lady said, having not failed to notice where Vergil had been looking when he gave that name. "Sounds cute. So, where did you meet her?"

"That's irrelevant!" Vergil snapped.

"Oh, don't be a pussy!" Nico said.

"Come on. We won't tell. Or do you have something to  _hide,_ Dante?"

Vergil clenched his fist as he searched for a story,

"Let's see...I met her...at a club. Called..." He looked around, this time spotting a Glock. "The Lock and Glock."

"Oh. That's actually not a bad name for a club." Lady said, chuckling.

"Yes, and, we...we saw each other's guns, and hit it off. Lots of talking about...guns."

"That's great that you found someone with a common interest, Dante." Lady said with a nod.

"So, what's she use?" Nico asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Her guns." Lady clarified. "Nico and I want to know what kind of gun she had when you saw her."

"Oh, yes, er..." He looked around at some of the posters, and pointed at one that claimed to be a "Luger" pistol. "That one."

Lady blinked, and chuckled.

"So this girl, she in her 60's? Or is she just that dedicated to her gun?" Nico asked.

Vergil tilted his head. "What?"

"Just that, the last Luger was made back in 1948. Whatever ones are left are all collectors items nowadays. Anyone who wants something like it just buys a Walther PPK."

Vergil said nothing. At this point, he no longer trusted himself to even open his mouth. Lady chuckled a little more.

"So, what's he buying?" Lady asked.

"He wants a holster. But he grabbed the wrong wallet, he got no dosh."

"Oh? That's unfortunate. Here, tell you what, Dante, I'll pay."

Vergil raised his hand. "Wait, you can't-"

'Relax. I'll just add it to your debt. I want to see you score this girl. How much, Nico?"

"20 bucks."

Vergil turned to her, rage returning. "That's not what you told ME!"

"Lady gets the hot friend discount."

"Awwww, you're too sweet, Nico. Here you go." She passed over a 20, and was handed the holster. She walked over, handed it to Vergil, then patted him on the shoulder.

"Good luck with your new friend, Dante."

Vergil sighed in relief as Lady approached the door, and it appeared he was in the clear. She paused as she reached it.

"Hey, Vergil?"

Like Dante before him, he turned on reflex to face her, only realizing his mistake as he saw her smirking face. She reached into a pouch, taking out his wallet. She opened it, took a 20 out, then tossed the wallet to him.

"You forgot this in your coat."

He said nothing as Lady walked over and hi fived Nico, clenching his fists as he realized he was being played the whole time. Lady, seeing his face, laughed.

"I'll see you at home, Vergil." Then she walked out.

* * *

Dinner was a quiet affair. Nether of the brothers were feeling up to talking much, and Lady was still chuckling every so often as she ate. When she was done, she looked at both of them.

"Now, boys, have we learned our lesson about trying to put one over on me?"

"Yep."

"Without a doubt."

Both of the brothers kept their eyes firmly locked on their food, and Lady chuckled again.

"That said." Vergil continued. "Your gift." He passed over the holster, which she took.

"Well, thank you, Vergil. But honestly, you already gave me my gift today."

Both of them looked at Lady, not getting it.

"A new holster, I can buy whenever I want. But the memories of today? Watching you two make fools of yourselves just to make me happy? You can't buy things like that. That's something special, something you can't replace. So, really, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you."

"...We're never going to hear the end of this, are we?" Dante said.

"I don't think she'll ever let us forget this, brother." Vergil said, nodding.

"Correct." Lady said as she got up. "Now, I'm going to try on this new holster. Talk to you two later."

Lady walked away, and Dante shrugged.

"Well, it didn't quite go how I planned but...she's still happy. That means we won, right?"

"I  _hate_ you, brother." Vergil said, shaking his head.

"Love you too, bro."


	11. Operation Get The Girl

Vergil was alone in the office, reading a book, when he heard the office door open, and Lady stepped inside.

"Lady." He said with a nod.

"Hi Vergil, sorry, don't have a lot of time to talk." She said as she walked past him. "Got a job, need to get moving for it, just here to grab some ammo."

"Let me grab my sword." He said as he started to get up.

"No need, this one specifically requested me, and only me. There's been a string of disappearances out in the country mountains , hikers, campers, and the like. Someone reached out anonymously to Morrison and said they know what's going on, and that it's demon related. That's all they could say, they're apparently being watched."

She held up a fancy looking ticket. "He's going to be attending a fancy charity ball taking place at a mansion up in those mountains, that's where I'm going to be tonight, meeting with him."

"A….. charity ball?" Vergil asked, not familiar with the concept.

"Big, fancy event for the super rich. The kind of people who make my bank account look tiny. They want me there as a guest, and I only have one ticket. Even if I didn't, you wouldn't want to go, everyone at this place is probably going to have their heads so high up in the air you'll wonder how they survive without suffocating."

"And what? You want to go?"

"Me? No. This is going to be boring as hell. But I was the one requested, so I'll bite the bullet."

Vergil nodded as Lady walked past him again toward the door, pausing at it.

"Oh, Nico was supposed to drop something off for me. Do me a favor, apologize to her for me not being here?"

"As you wish." Vergil said with a shrug.

"Thanks. I'll be back later tonight." With that said, she stepped out the door.

* * *

A half hour later, Nico entered the office without bothering to knock.

"Sup, blue boy?" She said to Vergil, who rolled his eyes behind the book. "Where's Lady?"

"Out on a job. Got invited to some charity ball or something. Just leave her things next to the door."

"Charity ball?" She asked as she dropped the bags she was holding. "Well what the hell are you doing here?"

"She only had one ticket."

Nico groaned, and grabbed the rolling computer chair, sliding next to Vergil. "Alright, dumbass, it's time for us to have a serious talk."

Vergil lowered his book. "Excuse me?"

"I'm gonna start with a real simple question, yes or no. Do you or do you not want some of that hot booty?"

"What?" Vergil's eyes widened, clearly not having expected this to suddenly come up.

"Do you wanna tap that fine ass?"

"I wouldn't put it so crudely…." Vergil said slowly.

"Yes or no?"

"It's not-"

"Yes or no?"

"I-"

"Answer the question!"

"Yes!" Vergil yelled, slamming his hand on the desk loudly. "Yes, I….."

"You  _love_ her?" Nico said in a mocking tone of voice.

"If you're not going to contribute anything, then leave." Vergil said, attempting to pick back up his book.

"Hey, dumbass, I'm  _trying_ to help you. Not for your sake, but for hers." Vergil blinked, and looked at Nico again. "Because for some reason, she likes you. Frankly, I don't know what she sees in you, but no one's perfect. So what the hell you waiting for?"

"She said she just wanted to be friends last year, and I-"

"And you believed that!?" Nico yelled.

"Yes?" Vergil said warily, no longer sure what the correct answers were.

"God, why are men such dumbasses?" Nico asked the ceiling. "Alright, let me lay this out for you. Lady, she's one of the toughest people I've ever met, no question. She takes no shit, got bigger balls then most men, and overall, she's a badass that few can rival. But she's still human. Up till last year, she had no one. Now she has you two, but at the same time, she's afraid. Afraid that if she tries to make things serious, and it doesn't work out, she'll lose the only friends she has."

Vergil leaned back in his chair, considering this. "Really? She thinks that?"

"Well, she'd still have me, but that's not really the same. Point I'm trying to make is, she ain't gonna make the first move, and if you wait until she's ready, you gonna be waiting your whole life. She's a tough, independent woman, but she's afraid that it she shows weakness, you might lose respect for her."

Vergil shook his head. "That's not the case, why would she think that?"

"Because, to be blunt, you're a bit of an asshole, buddy. How many people have you called "Fools" this week alone?"

"….A few…." Vergil admitted reluctantly. Nico just sighed.

"Look, you wanna make this work, you gotta make the first move. You gotta do something, something to show her you're serious about this, and that you're willing to work at it."

"Alright, fine. Once she gets back, I'll talk to her, and-"

"No, no, no!" Nico interrupted. "You gotta do more then just talk to her, dumbass! Actions speak louder then words!"

"Fine. Clearly my words mean nothing to you, so tell me what you want." Vergil said as he threw up his hands. Nico reached into her pocket and pulled out a ticket identical to the one Lady had.

"This ball she's going to, this is your chance. Girl's going to be going mad over there, stuck with a bunch of people who make you look like a saint. So, you're gonna go there, surprise her, sweep her off her feet, put that charm on, and win her over!"

Vergil just stared. "Is this yet another plan taken from a movie?"

"Course it is! But there's a reason so many movies have it happen. Girls dig it, girls love a man who can put the charm on when he needs to, and Lady ain't no different. And you got an advantage, she already likes you."

Vergil still seemed unsure. "But she's there to work a job. Won't that be a bad time to try this?"

Nico made a dismissive spitting noise. "What, knowing her? Fighting demons together will probably just help make her feel more comfortable, it's practically her hobby."

Vergil stood up, walking to the window. "It could work…."

"Not with that attitude, it ain't! You gotta be assertive! You gotta go in there, and tell her what's up, tell her you want her, and you ain't gonna be satisfied with anything less!"

"…..What happened to charm?" Vergil asked, confused.

"Well, you gotta say it charmingly." Nico said, shrugging. "But Lady's as much a hardhead as you, you gotta break through that if you want her."

Vergil sighed. "Why does this have to be so complicated? Why can't she just say what she wants?"

"That's women for ya." Nico said as Vergil turned and took the ticket from her.

"Where did you get this ticket, anyway?" He asked.

"Eh, the hosts knew my family back in the day, these old money families are real big on debts and old relationships and shit. There's no way they think I'm actually going to go, but they did it anyway so they can't be accused of slighting anyone."

"I see. Well, thank you for the advice." Vergil turned to leave.

"Woh, hold up, hold up!" Vergil stopped, sighing. "What, you planning to go to this thing looking like that?"

Vergil looked down at his blue coat. "What's wrong with my coat?"

"Nothing, but these people have a strict dress code. You show up looking like that, you won't even get in the door."

Vergil shook his head, irritation growing already. "Then what am I supposed to wear?"

"God, ain't you never seen a movie with this kind of scene before?" Vergil's blank stare told her the response to that. "Alright, come on. Get in your car and follow me."

* * *

An hour and a half later, Vergil exited a tuxedo rental store, dressed in a crisp, fancy looking tux with a blue tie, carrying a bundle of white flowers and looking highly uncomfortable. Nico was sitting in her van, waiting as she read a magazine called "Girls and Guns Monthly"

"This suit is stiff." Vergil complained.

"It's a tux, not a suit." Nico said. "Big ass difference, lotta people gonna get their panties in a wad if you screw that up. And it ain't supposed to be comfy. You ever wonder why every rich man looks like they have a stick up their ass? That's part of why."

Vergil rolled his eyes. "Fools, all of them."

"Do me a favor? Refrain from calling people fools, at least for tonight? You can't go in there and start talking shit to people. You get yourself thrown out, and Operation Get The Girl is gonna be over before it begins."

Vergil blankly stared at Nico. "Is that seriously what we're calling it?"

"Yep!"

He shook his head. "Fine. I'm leaving now."

"Wait, one last thing!" Nico yelled as she hopped out of the van. "Lean down!"

Not willing to question her more, Vergil did as instructed, and Nico put something in his ear. Then she lifted a headset to her head, and turned it on.

"Testing testing, do you hear me?"

"I'm right next to you, of course I hear you." Vergil said.

"Not like that! I just put a hidden mic in your ear, so I can talk to you and you can talk to me! Is it working?"

"…Yes. But won't I look mad if I walk around talking to myself?"

"Have you seriously never seen a spy movie?" Nico asked with irritation.

"Why would I do that?" Vergil asked.

"Alright, alright, later we can work on your lack of pop culture awareness." Nico said, waving her hand dismissively. "Just mutter under your breath, I'll hear you just fine."

"I'm not even going to ask what a pop culture is."

"Just, go get in your car and drive there." Nico jumped back in her van, started it up, and drove away.

* * *

It had taken Vergil several hours to get to the mansion the charity ball was taking place in, and by the time he had arrived, it was dark out. He slowly pulled into the front yard.

"You there?" Nico's voice came through on the mic, as well as the sounds of chips being eaten. "Alright, Operation Get The Girl is a go."

"Do you have to do this?" Vergil asked. "I am more then capable of handling this on my own."

"Don't get confused, I ain't doing this for your sorry ass, I'm doing this for Lady, and for her sake, I need to make sure you don't screw it up. Now, pull up at the front door."

He came to a halt as instructed, and exited the car slowly, continuing to curse his stiff tux. A man in a red vest and black dress pants approached him.

"Good evening, sir. May I have your keys?"

Vergil gave the man a look that said he thought this man was the stupidest man to ever walk the earth. "And why in Sparda's name would I do that?"

"Please, sir." The man bowed, clearly unshaken by the look he was receiving. "This is my job. I assure you, your vehicle is in good hands."

"I refuse to-"

"God damnit, Vergil!" Nico yelled over the mic. "Don't you know what a valet is!? His job is literally to stand there and park people's cars! Give him your keys before you make a scene not 5 steps after arriving!"

Unable to really respond to her with the man directly in front of him, Vergil just sighed in annoyance before silently surrendering his keys. The man took them and bowed before entering the car and driving off.

"My sword is in the trunk of the car." Vergil muttered. "If that man dares to lay a finger on it, I will destroy him."

"Jesh, relax, killer. These people do this all the time, none of them are gonna screw with your ride or anything in it. Now get moving, before people start asking questions."

Vergil shook his head, asking himself how he had allowed himself to be roped into this as he approached the front door, handing over the ticket. The guard, in a black suit and sunglasses, looked the ticket over.

"Mt Goldstein. Welcome to the party. Please, enjoy yourself tonight."

Vergil nodded at the guard, then stepped forward, took a breath, and entered the mansion.


	12. A Night at the Ball

Vergil entered into a gigantic entrance hall. A grandiose chandelier hung from the ceiling, expensive looking red rugs lined the floors, the walls appeared to be fancy, hand carved wood….

Vergil didn't need to be an expert to be able to tell that this room alone probably cost more then his entire office combined. Lady had clearly not been exaggerating when she was talking about a party for the super rich. Vergil's eyes also noted the presence of guards every so often, each with an identical suit, sunglasses, and hat combo on. And they seemed to be around in large numbers, at least to Vergil's eye. They were doing a good job sticking to the shadows and remaining out of the way, but they were still there, and he noticed each had a pistol on their hip.

"Do these parties usually have so many men with guns at them?" Vergil muttered into the mic.

"I don't know." Nico said with the kind of tone where one could practically hear her shrugging.

"What? What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Exactly what I said. All I'm running off is movies. You don't think I'd be caught dead actually showing up to one of these things?"

Vergil resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "So, where is she?"

"There's hundreds of people at this shindig. You're going to have to mingle."

"I'm sorry?"

"Mingle." Nico said, growing irritated. "You have to walk around, pretend you give a shit about the party while you waste time looking for her. Chat with people."

"I believe I'd rather be shot." Vergil said, not even needing to hear them speak to be able to pick most of these people out as fools.

"So would half the party. Welcome to high society. Now get moving."

In front of a fancy, large set of stairs to the second floor, Vergil spotted a Italian man standing in front of a group of people, speaking to one. As good a place to start as any.

"And please, enjoy the party!" He said, finishing speaking to someone as he turned to Vergil. "Ah, and welcome, Mr….."

"Goldstein. "

"Ah, yes, forgive me." He wiped some sweat off of his face. "And how are you enjoying the party?"

"I just arrived." Vergil said, clearly bored.

"Oh, a thousand pardons. I am Antonio Maximo, host of this little affair of ours." He wiped some more sweat off of his face before extending his hand.

"Hot, are we?" Vergil asked as he took the hand.

"Yes, yes, I'm afraid I…..have a cold." Antonio stammered. Vergil looked the man directly in the eyes.

"You look awfully afraid for a man in his own home, surrounded by his armed guards." Vergil observed with a neutral tone.

"Oh, hahahaha!" The man laughed unnecessarily loudly, and Vergil noted him glance around. Vergil took a sideways glance and noticed that the eyes of every guard within eyesight was now staring directly at them. "You, you must be imagining things! Very funny, sir. Please, I beg you, enjoy the party, and don't trouble yourself with such things!"

Quickly, the man walked off, and the guards looked away.

"That man is hiding something." Vergil muttered as he walked away.

"Sure, sure, but focus!" Nico yelled. "Worry about that after you charm the panties off of Lady!"

This time, Vergil failed to suppress his eyeroll as he continued to walk through the party.

* * *

Back at the office, Dante was busy making his standard dinner call as he sorted through the usual assortment of junk mail.

"Hey, Tony!" Dante yelled into the phone. "I'll have the usual order."

"Sorry, Dante, no can do."

Dante blinked. "Why not?"

"You have any idea how much your tab is at? You need to actually pay me once in a while."

Dante groaned. "Damn it, Tony, Lady just took my money yesterday for her payoff. Can you give me a week?"

"No money, no pizza, Dante. You'll figure something out."

Then he hung up. Dante groaned again.

"Seriously, Tony? God damnit." He got up and started looking around, trying to see if he could find any cash laying around. Then he looked up at the various devil arms and guns on the wall.

"Hmmm…..you know, I never see Vergil actually use any of these. I wonder if he'd even notice if I took one to sell….."

Out of the various options, the easiest to sell on short notice was probably the weird looking violin. He knew a pawn shop nearby, could probably convince em it was a collector item. He reached for it, but as his hand touched it, it suddenly twisted and transformed from a violin to an electric guitar.

"Woh…..Vergil didn't say it could do that."

He stared at the thing, and as he did, he suddenly got an idea. He walked back over to the pile of junk mail, and sorted through it until he found what he was looking for. A piece of paper with an advertisement on it.

**Battle of the Bands**

**It's happening tonight!**

**$50,000 dollar cash prize!**

Dante nodded, satisfied with this plan. He could earn this money, and not only pay off his current tab, but give all of it to Tony and never have to worry about paying for pizza again. He grabbed the guitar, put it in the case he usually used for his sword, and walked out the door.

* * *

"What possible purpose could this serve?"

Vergil was now staring at a large punch bowl that also seemed to be a large fountain, which the punch was running through before landing back in the bowl.

"Ohhh, that's a classic!" Nico said over the mic. Vergil just shook his head.

"Foolishness."

He kept walking, and found himself in a large ballroom, with a dance floor that was twice the size of his entire office building. If the other rooms were fancy, this room was almost garish in design. Almost everything was gold or yellow tinted, from the floors, to the ceiling, to the furniture, even the windows looking out at the mountains probably would have been gold if they could have gotten away with it.

But Vergil's eyes were drawn only to one thing. Over at the bar, he saw Lady, leaning on the counter with her head sitting on one hand while the other held a glass of water. And rather then her usual outfit, she had on a stunning looking white, sleeveless dress. He should have expected her to be in a dress, but somehow his mind hadn't been able to imagine what it would look like on her until now.

"I found her" Vergil muttered. "I'm moving in."

"Wait, wait!" Nico yelled. "This is all about timing."

"I'm not going to stand here for an hour and wait, she hasn't seen me yet, but she'll notice at some point."

"Just hear me out."

Vergil sighed, once again questioning why he was putting up with her. "Fine."

"Alright, here's what I want you to do…."

* * *

Lady wanted to be anywhere but here. She was surrounded by a bunch of self absorbed idiots, more concerned with what model yacht they planned to buy for their 5th boat then anything that actually mattered. These weren't people who had to worry about the kinds of things normal people did. These were the kinds of people that Lady never had a problem fleecing for their money when they came to her begging for help.

But she had never bothered to deal with them outside of one on one business transactions. Never had a wish to do so. And so it had not become apparent until now, when she was stuck in the same room as these people, how little they actually cared about the money they spent. She charged high figures for her services, but the numbers she was hearing being thrown around by those who were discussing their business transactions were insane.

_If things had turned out differently, if my mother hadn't been murdered…could I have been like these people, rich and caring for nothing but myself? I'd like to think I was raised better then that, but if I've learned anything, it's that you can never predict what turns your life may take._

She finished her water, and waved for another one.

_I keep hassling Dante and Vergil for their money, constantly remind them of their debt…but I don't need that money. I have plenty, and I don't even spend much of what I make. Do they think of me the same way I'm thinking of these people?_

Next to her, the conversation between two women turned to a topic actually somewhat related to the job at hand.

"Have you noticed all the armed thugs around now, dear?"

"I did! Quite a change from the previous ball."

"I always thought Antonio hated the idea of having goons around."

"Well, you know how it is, the world's a dangerous place. Perhaps he decided that he was better served safe then sorry?"

_It would sure explain why I'm here._  Lady thought to herself as the band started a new song up.

"Oh, it's time for the waltz! Come, come, let's find our husbands!"

The two women scurried away, and Lady sighed, taking another long sip from her glass.

"May I have this dance, my lady?"

She turned, the voice sounding familiar to her, only for her eyes to go wide as she saw Vergil standing behind her, holding his hand out.

"Vergil? What-"

He reached out and gently grabbed her hand, slowly pulling her out of the chair.

"The dress is beautiful on you." He said.

"You think?" Lady said, too in shock to question anything yet as she was led toward the dance floor. "It just feels….weird to me. I'm not used to not being able to move my legs freely."

"This tux also feels stiffer then I am used to." He said as he shook his head.

"Well, I think it makes you look very handsome."

They reached an empty spot on the dance floor, and grabbed hands, taking the same position everyone else was in.

"I have an admission to make." Lady said.

"And that is?"

"I've….never actually danced before." Lady said, face turning red.

"Well then. That makes two of us."

They both stared at each other for a second before chuckling. For a moment, they just quietly swayed back and forth.

"Vergil." Lady said, breaking the silence first. "How did you even get in? I don't-"

Vergil put a finger to her lips. "None of that matters. I have something to tell you. Something I should have said long ago."

Lady could feel her heart starting to beat faster. "And that is?"

Vergil suddenly frowned, and took a second to reach into his ear, yanking out the hidden mic, throwing it to the floor, and stepping on it, grinding it to pieces. Lady looked down at it.

"Nico." She instantly guessed.

"Forget her. This is just me and you." He looked back up at her, looking directly into her eyes. "From the moment we met, I knew you were different from anyone else I had met. You had a strength in you, a fire that refused to waver, even in the face of overwhelming odds."

Lady looked away. "I was obsessed, Vergil. I didn't care if I lived or died, back then, so long as I took him with me. I still am, you know I don't do much outside of the job, I-"

"No." Vergil shook his head, gently grabbing her face and turning it to look back at him. "Even after that day, you still have that strength, even if you don't realize it. Others may say you're obsessed, that you're a workaholic, that you have no life. But I believe differently. I call it determination. You know what it's like to lose that which you love to the demons, and you refuse to allow it to happen to anyone else, even at the risk of your own life."

"That's not so special a trait." Lady said, trying to brush it off.

"You underestimate yourself. I have yet to meet any other human I could say the same about. And it is that trait I admire the most about you. Whatever else anyone says, about you, about me, I care not. I know the truth."

She had to stop herself, trying to hold back the emotions she was feeling right now. "Vergil…." She said, her voice strained.

"I love you, Mary." She gasped, both at hearing the phrase and her actual name. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to say it. Be with me."

"I….." Lady was clearly struggling with conflicting emotions. "I told you, I, I'm not sure if I'm ready for-"

"And how much longer will it be until you are ready?" Vergil asked in a sterner voice. "Will you ever be?"

Tears started to appear in Lady's eyes. "I just….I don't want to lose you, Vergil"

He leaned in close to her. "I'm not going anywhere."

She hesitated for one last moment, then leaned in, and the two shared a long, passionate kiss as the song came to an end. It lasted what felt like an eternity to both of them, but eventually, they parted.

"I love you, Vergil. It feels so good to finally say it."

Lady's tears had, in the process, started streaming down her face, and Vergil reached into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief.

"You remember what I said about tears, Mary?"

"They don't suit me?"

"Not at all."

She wiped off her face as a nearby clock chimed, signaling the top of the next hour.

"Damn. It's time to meet with the client." She said. Vergil shook his head.

"Forget them. Stay with me."

She gave a sad smile. "You know I can't do that." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Besides, you're not going anywhere, right? We have the rest of our lives to be together."

He nodded, expecting that response. "I'll wait for you."

"I know you will." They stared at each other for one last moment before Lady turned and walked away.


	13. House Arrest

Lady found herself standing at the punch bowl, waiting for her contact to show himself. Vergil had taken a position at the bar, sipping at a glass of wine so he had an excuse to sit around and watch the meeting happen without attracting attention. After a minute, the same Italian man Vergil had spoken to when he arrived slowly walked over to Lady, extending his hand.

"Greetings, please to meet you, miss….."

"Lady." Lady said as she extended her hand. The man took it, and pulled her close to wrap one arm around her, leaning in close to her face.

"We're being watched." He muttered into her ear. "The guards serve them. Follow my lead."

Lady gave no sign he had said anything as he let go.

"My dear, would you care to join me on the dance floor?" He asked, extending his hand again.

"I would be  _delighted._ " Lady said, perhaps putting it on a bit thick as the two walked out to the floor. Lady noticed Vergil's stare grow more intense as she walked out to the floor with him.

_Is he jealous?_ She mentally chuckled to herself as they came to a stop. She gave a few seconds for the next song, conveniently loud enough so that they would not be at risk of being overheard.

"Explain what's going on." She said once the music picked up. The man sighed, struggling to keep himself together.

"It, it's terrible! I live alone up here, just me and my servants. A nice, quiet retirement, so I thought. Then, these people, they came in black robes, stormed my building. Before I had a chance to do anything, they had a gun to my head. I became a hostage in my own home! Then, the next day, these guards showed up.  _They_ haven't done anything, but, they're watching, always watching. My servants and staff, they were taken prisoner. I had to pretend everything was normal, keep up my usual calls, redirect visitors away so no one noticed anything was amiss!"

"Take a breath." She said, giving him a hard stare. He did as instructed, and seemed to calm down a bit. "Who are these people? I was told this was demon related. How did you get in contact with Morrison, if you're being watched?"

"It wasn't easy, I had to sneak out of my room during the night, had to pretend I was sleepwalking when they caught me after the call. I couldn't call the police, if they noticed anything amiss, they would have killed me, and I-"

"Focus." She said sternly, trying to keep him from rambling. "Who are they?"

"Madmen. They walk around, talk about how superior the demons are, about how they wish to see their master rise up and take over our world…..you can't imagine-"

"I can imagine all too well."

He shook his head, sweat starting to come down his face. "This party, it's an annual event, they couldn't cancel it without drawing too much attention, but this is my last chance before…." He took another breath, clearly on the verge of panic.

"We're going to take care of it. Do you know why they would target you, in particular?"

"It, it's not me, I don't think, but this place, centuries ago, it was used as the headquarters of a cult of demon worshipers." He very carefully motioned toward a door on the other side of the room with his head. "There's a hidden passage in the wine cellar, the third barrel to the left as you enter is empty, turn the knob and it opens. I think that's where they took my staff. They're dead by know, I know it, but I still hear the most terrifying screams sometimes from down there. I never dared check what was there before they arrived, but….perhaps that's what drew them?"

Lady nodded, sensing the end of the song coming. "Last question. How many?"

"A dozen guards in the public areas. There's another half dozen or so wandering around, and as for the cultists, there were 7 of them. I rarely see any of them, they likely spend most of their time in the hidden passage."

"Ok." Lady nodded, a plan already forming in her head. "Act natural. We'll take it from here."

The song ended, and Lady walked away, back to the counter where Vergil sat.

"And?" He asked.

"A cult is squatting in his basement. We're here to evict them."

"The guards as well?"

"Not sure, they might be cult members, they might just be hired thugs who have no idea what their employers actually are. You stay up here. When I give the signal, get the client, and get him out."

"And the rest of these fools?"

"I have a plan for that."

"Can you handle them?" Lady gave him a look of mock insult. "You're a little…..underdressed, is all I'm saying."

She motioned toward one of her covered legs. "A girl always has to know how to accessorize. Meet up in the parking lot."

They nodded, and Lady stepped away. She lingered near the door the client had pointed her toward, and soon enough, she spied one of the guards enter it using a keycard. She waited for him to pass the doorframe, then stopped the door from closing with her foot, slipping inside.

* * *

"No, no, no, and NO!"

Dante stood backstage at the stadium that had been rented tonight for the Battle of the Bands, Nevan in the case on his back. In front of him stood an angry looking blonde man with a bandana on his head , a goatee for a beard, and a black, studded jacket and undershirt combo that was paired with black jeans.

"Come on, man." Dante said, throwing his hands up in annoyance. "Can't you just make an exception?"

"No!" He yelled, pointing in Dante's face. "Firstly, signups closed last week. The lineup's already set, I don't have a second to spare for anyone else!"

"Come on, it's a band competition, you don't think someone won't bail at the last second?"

"Secondly, it's called Battle of the  _Bands_. Not Battle of the Bands and one random dude in a red coat. You got no band!"

"I don't need one."

"Thirdly-"

Suddenly, the sound of a guitar being smashed could be heard, and one punk rocker looking man stormed last.

"Fine! Screw you lot! I don't need you! I'm going solo!"

Another man followed him out, throwing a pair of drumming sticks behind him. "If he's out, I'm out."

Behind him was a blonde girl who was chewing gum. "Fine, screw this popsicle stand."

The runner of the show stared in disbelief as they just left without a word.

"Soooooo…. Got an opening now?"

He sighed. "Can you be ready to go in 5?"

* * *

Lady slipped into the hallway, seeing the guard now some feet ahead of her. She started walking in a drunken sway.

"Excuse me!" She called out. The guard stopped in his tracks and turned, confusion turning to annoyance. "Is there a bathroom down here?"

"This area is restricted." He said sternly as he approached Lady. "You must leave at on-"

As he put his hand on her shoulder, Lady lashed out with a brutal knee to the groin. The guard's breath was knocked out of him as he bent over in pain. Before he could recover, Lady followed up the knee with a roundhouse kick directly to his head, sending him to the ground, where he lay still. Lady went to put her foot down, only to find out the kick had broken the heel of the shoe she had kicked with.

"Damn it, I told them I wanted strong heeled shoes." She muttered to herself as she discarded her shoes in favor of going bare footed. She poked her head into the next room and, finding what she was looking for, walked back over and, with some difficulty, dragged the guard into the room.

Once inside, she closed the door and went through his pockets. She grabbed the keycard, realizing she had no pockets on her dress to put it in. Once again cursing her forced outfit selection, she set that to the side. She took the guard's pistol and checked the magazine. Full, unsurprising given it likely had not been fired today. She took her dress and ripped the lower half of the skirt clean off, turning that into a mini-skirt that now revealed her hidden pistol strapped to one leg and 3 magazines of ammo strapped to the other. She took her pistol out of the holster and slid the keycard into the now empty holster. Then she turned to what she had been hoping to find. A fireplace.

She walked over to an expensive looking chair, picked it up by its back, and then slammed it against a wall a few times until a leg broke off of it. She grabbed the leg, took the torn lower half of her dress, and wrapped it around the leg. Then she walked over to the fireplace, and seeing a button marked as "On", pressed it. Instantly, the fireplace lit up like a candle. She held the end with the dress inside for a moment until it lit up, then held the stick up to the ceiling.

It only took a second for the fire alarms to start going off, and suddenly, a sprinkler system went on, extinguishing the flame and soaking her to the bone in seconds. She shivered, the cold water being a serious, if not unexpected, shock to her body. She tossed the stick aside, grabbed the guard's gun to pair with her own, and exited the room.

* * *

Out at the party, panic started to set in as the fire alarms went off. People started flooding toward the exits. The guards, seemingly unconcerned with them, started trying to force their way through the crowds, some toward the entrance, some toward Antonio, all to limited effect. Vergil, who had already been prepared to move, started making his way directly toward Antonio, able to force his way and shove people aside much easier then the guards. Antonio looked up as Vergil grabbed his shoulder.

"Mr Goldstein! What-"

"Silence." Vergil spat. "We are leaving." He then started walking in the opposite direction of the main exit.

"But, this is the wrong way" He tried to protest. "Why-"

"What direction do you think they expect you to go, fool?" Vergil said, clearly fed up. "If you wish to return to them, by all means, go. Otherwise, tell me where the nearest back exit is."

Antonio gulped, then pointed at a nearby door. "Through there. But you need a keycard to-"

Vergil ignored the man and applied the bottom of his dress shoe to the door, shattering it and causing it to open. Antonio gasped as he was dragged inside. Vergil then paused to grab a heavy bookcase, one that no normal human should he able to move alone, and shoved it in front of the door to block it.

"What…..how….." Antonio was clearly in shock at what he was seeing. Vergil ignored his sputtering, and grabbed his shoulder, shoving him forward. They proceeded down the hallway, and then suddenly a guard spun around the corner, raising his gun at Vergil. He shoved Antonio behind him as the guard fired, striking Vergil in the chest. He looked down at his suit, which now had a bullet hole in it.

"Pathetic retch. You just cost me my security deposit."

Now it was the guard's turn to look surprised, or at least as surprised as a man with sunglasses on could look as Vergil casually brushed his chest off before slowly advancing. Staggering backward, the guard lifted his gun again, this time striking Vergil directly in the forehead. The force caused Vergil's head to lean back for a second before he pulled it back forward. The guard dropped his gun in sheer shock as Vergil appeared to be none the worse for ware for having a bullet in his head.

"Scum."

Then he delivered a single punch to the man' chest, driving him into the wall behind him hard enough to leave a dent in it. Naturally, the man did not get back up. Vergil turned back around, and Antonio, who's jaw was already on the floor, got a firsthand view of the bullet, flattened from the impact against Vergil's skull, slide out of the wound and hit the floor.

"Wha…..what  _are_ you?" He stammered, staggering backward.

"You'll have to ask yourself. Do you prefer the devils you know? Or the devil you don't? Figure it out quickly, I have no time to waste."

"I…" He walked over to Vergil. "I'll give you whatever you want, just, get me out of here!"

"Good answer." Vergil reached down and grabbed the guard's gun. "How familiar are you with guns?"

"I, erm, I've done some recreational shooting in the past, but I never actually shot at-"

Vergil shoved the gun into his hand. "It'll have to do."

"But, don't you want it? You're, ahem, tougher then I am." He said as he gulped again.

"Which is why you will use it. I don't  _need_ one."

Antonio gave a weak sounding squeal as Vergil glared at him. "Quite right, quite right. How stupid of me."

He bent down to the man, digging in his pockets. "Should probably grab his extra clips of ammo."

"Magazines."

Antonio looked up. "I'm sorry?"

"They are apparently called magazines. Not clips. These gun people get  _very_ defensive and offended if you mix them up, even if you've never laid a hand on a gun before."

"Oh…..if, er, if you say so." Antonio said, clearly not sure how to respond to that. Then a loud banging noise came from the other end of the hall as the guards started trying to force their way through.

"Time to go." Vergil said, grabbing Antonio's arm. " _Move!_ "


	14. Hidden Secrets

Lady had managed to make it to the basement without serious issue. For whatever reason, be it that their priorities were elsewhere, they didn't know about the cult under the building, or sheer luck, she had not encountered any more guards. She walked into the basement, fancy carpet turning to old, firm wood. Slowly, she reached for the light and flicked it on, only to find the basement empty. She could see the wine cask that hid the hidden passage, one that had obvious marks in front of it that signaled it had been moved recently.

Before she investigated that, however, she spotted a set of stairs on the other end of the basement led to a pair of metal doors that were almost even with the ceiling. She opened them, and discovered they led outside. She poked her head out, and could see a large group of people slowly assembling in the front yard of the house. On the other side, she could see the parking lot.

She went back inside, and walked over to the cask, twisting the handle. As the cask started to move and the wall behind it started to raise, she slammed her back against the wall right next to it. The wall finished raising in about a minute, but Lady did not move yet, in case anyone behind it was waiting for her to expose herself before shooting. After another tense minute, she slowly peaked around the corner, seeing only a set of stairs that led downward to a metal door.

The door had a small window with metal bars on the upper part. Lady paused in front of the door to try to peak through it, but there appeared to be a minimal amount of light on the other side. Unable to see if anyone was in the room, she took a different approach, and slammed on the door several times with her fist. After a moment with no response or noise, she reached for the handle, thanked her luck that it was not locked, and entered.

Inside, the room proved to be rather barebones. Everything from the floors to the ceiling was made of hardened stone. The room itself was lit mostly by candles, with the exception of a single lightbulb that was hanging over a wooden table like a beacon. The table itself was covered in assorted papers, thrown about seemingly at random. Once she was sure no one was about to attack her, Lady stepped over to the table, grabbing the light and moving it close to check what was on the table.

Most of the papers were random notes, papers which she didn't have time to sit down and read in any detail. But a couple of things caught her eye. A stack of shipping manifests for red paint, identical to the ones they had found at that doctor's office was the first thing she noticed. The top paper on that stack, dated for over 6 months ago, had a furiously written note on it that said "No good, need fresh!"

The other set of papers that stood out were a collection of what appeared to be family trees, of all things. Some of the names, she recognized as victims from the doctor's office, some she knew from other jobs they had worked, at least one or two she remembered had been reported on the news as missing, and still others she had never heard of. Each tree had been written on, some more then others. Some parts of trees were crossed out, others were circled, but there were no written notes explaining anything, and without context, it didn't mean much to her, other then to tell her they were taking the time to research the linage of their targets. But the important question of why remained unanswered.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of something scraping against the stone, followed by a quiet gasp. Lady's gun was up and pointing at the sound in a second as she ducked to the side. When no gunshots came, she grabbed the light and held it in the direction the noise had come from. The light revealed rusted metal bars that marked a cell in the corner of the room. Huddled in the back corner of the cell were 3 people dressed in camping gear, all of who naturally looked scared out of their minds. Lady lowered the gun.

"It's ok. I'm here to get you out." She said calmly. They continued to stare at her, probably assuming they were suddenly going mad and imagining the woman in a half torn dress randomly showing up to save them. Given she had no idea how long they had been here, she couldn't blame them. She spied an old looking key hanging on the wall nearby. Assuming correctly what it was for, she put the key in the lock and opened the cell. Only then did it seem to hit the prisoners that they were actually being let out, and they slowly got up, one man supporting another who seemed to have an injured leg.

"Go upstairs, out the basement exit, you'll see it. Go to the parking lot, look for a white haired man in a tux, his name is Vergil. Stay with him, he'll keep you safe."

They nodded. "Thank you, miss, thank you, I-"

"Save it for when we're in the clear." Lady said, shaking her head. "Go."

One of the prisoners paused on his way out. "The people who took us, they're down below. They know who we are. Miss, I can't ask you to do any more then you have, but if they live, they could hunt us down, they-"

"Don't worry about that. I'll make  _sure_ that doesn't happen." Lady said firmly. "Now go!"

He left, and Lady lifted her guns, advancing toward the next set of stairs down.

* * *

Dante stepped onto the stage, now carrying Nevan in his hand. The crowd of about 5000 cheered at the next act stepping on, even if some wondered why he had no band with him. Dante grabbed the microphone stand and leaned in.

"Who's ready to make this party  _crazy!?_ "

The entire crowd erupted into a cheer. Dante reached for his guitar, and as he strummed the first note, a lightning bolt struck the stage in front of him. The crowd suddenly fell silent in shock. Then Dante grinned.

"Oh, hell yes." He muttered. Then he started playing for real, and the crowd started to go nuts as more lightning bolts struck the ground around him. Dante leaned into the mic again.

"The flinch in your eye calls your bluff  
Feel free to die when you've had enough!"

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass could be heard, and several demonic figures appeared, each holding a scythe. Slowly, they started to advance on Dante.

"Useless cause is breaking your back  
Your life will end when you attack!"

Dante turned to point at the nearest demon, and a lighting bolt fell on its head, destroying it. The crowd's cheering turned to a roar of approval at what they were now seeing. More of the demons started rushing him. They all leaped into the air at once, preparing to swing their weapons at Dante.

"Make your move  
Make your stand  
Make the win  
Like you can!"

While continuing to play the guitar, Dante extended his weapon into scythe mode, and swung it in an arc around him, killing all of the demons attacking at once and causing them to explode into sand.

"See the war  
See me rule!"

The last of the demons started to back away, but then Dante summoned several bats covered in electricity. Each one flew at one of the demons, and the last of them were slain.

"See the mirror  
You'll see a fool!"

Dante ran forward, sliding on his knees and pointing at the crowd. He played the last note, finishing with a giant explosion going off behind him, and the crowd went wild, continuing to roar even as he stood up, grinned, and walked off.

* * *

One of the back doors of the mansion was kicked open, and a guard came flying out, having just been kicked through it by an annoyed Vergil. He stomped through it, ignoring the knocked out human. Antonio, for his part, was just trying to stay quiet and out if the angry half demon's way. Vergil glanced around, them started walking once he determined the parking lot was clear. Spying his car, he walked over to it.

"Oh, my, this is an exceptionally nice car for a demon." Antonio said

"Half demon." Vergil corrected as he looked in the driver's seat, please to see that the vallet had left the keys in the ignition.

"Half demon? How does that work?"

"Long story. Now, get in so I can get you clear, and-"

Vergil heard footsteps behind him, and quickly turned, his glare causing the former prisoners that were rushing toward him to halt in their tracks as they saw the look they were getting. After a moment, one managed to find his voice.

"Are…..are you Vergil?"

Vergil took a moment to give each of them a long look. "And if I am?"

"I…..that angel who saved us, she, she told us to find you, that you would keep us safe."

Vergil chuckled. "You haven't seen that woman when she decides it's time to collect. But I digress. You were prisoners?"

They all nodded. "Why? What were they doing that required them to kidnap random people?"

"Experiments." Another said, looking shaken merely from thinking about it. "They never bothered to hide their intent from us. Ranted to us about it, in fact. They're taking people, and sacrificing them. They say that they use our blood, freshly spilled from our bodies, in a ritual, one that empowers demons."

"Supposedly, even the weakest demon could become a true threat with the right blood." One of the others chimed in. "They claim to have been doing this for some time, although it was not always done here."

Vergil thought back to the incident at that day care, with a demon that had been far stronger then it had any right to be. That had not been the only time it had happened. Then he shook his head. He was allowing himself to get distracted. There would be time for this later. "The woman who saved you, where is she?"

"She went down to take on the cult, the ones who captured us."

"Alone?" Vergil quickly walked over to the car, reached in and yanked his key out, then shoved Antonio out of the way as he opened his trunk and grabbed his sword.

"Wha-wait, where are you going?" Antonio asked.

"If she's fighting a cult that empowers demons beyond their natural limits, she may need backup,  _fool."_

"But, what about us?"

At that moment, a firetruck loudly pulled up outside, responding to the fire alarm, and the crowd up front started getting out of its way. Vergil shoved him toward the prisoners.

"Get to the fire truck. They'll take care of you and the prisoners, no one will dare try to make a move on you with so many witnesses. If they do, you still have the gun. Use it."

He wasted no more time, and ran off, leaving the humans in the dust as he rushed toward the basement doors.


	15. In the Shadows

_Well, we're now at the 30th_ _chapter of this combined series, and I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who've commented on the story and expressed how much you're enjoying it. I don't reply to them all, but I do read them, and I appreciate all of them. Hopefully you continue to enjoy._

* * *

There was no door at the bottom of the next set of steps that led into where the cult was supposed to be, and as she neared the doorway, she could hear faint voices from within. She crouched down and very slowly moved into the room.

Inside the room, a giant bonfire dominated the central part of the far wall, and provided most of the light in the room. Above it sat a large hole, one that seemed to connect to the chimney above and ventilate the room. Beyond it, a large, bloodstained alter sat. On the alter was a marble statue of a large, almost angelic looking man with long hair and a third eye on his forehead. Both of his hands were extended forward in a pose that almost seemed to be inviting people to kneel.

In front of the fire, a long, red carpet lined the floor all the way to the door Lady was at, torches were placed at points between it and the door providing some scant light of their own. Spread equally through room were 4 giant pillars, one of which Lady was currently using for cover. The walls were mostly covered in shadow, although she could see parts of murals drawn on large pieces of cloth that stretched across the wall, disturbing images that she was frankly glad she couldn't see in their entirety.

Off to the right hand side, there was an alcove, inside of which stood 6 cultists in a circle, each of them with their hands extended forward in the same pose as the statute, and each of who were chanting in some form of inhuman sounding speech. Closest to her position, another one, clearly supervising the others, stood watching.

"We are approaching the time of the sacrifice." He said to the others in the room. "Continue your work. I will retrieve the offering, and then, we-"

He never got any further then that as Lady, deciding the time to act was now, while his back was turned, turned around her cover and lifted her guns. The first two bullets went into the back of each of the leader's knees, crippling him and sending him to the ground. The other 6 turned in shock, but Lady was already prepared, and each of them received a gunshot to the head before they could take any real action. The crippled man who had seemed to be in charge laughed.

"You are too late, interloper!" He said as he twisted around to face Lady and the two gun barrels pointing directly at his head.

"Never too late to shoot one of you people. Me and my associates are going to have some questions for you." She said, looking at him with all the contempt she had to give. The man, seeing her face, just laughed.

"Those eyes…..I know those eyes."

Lady's eyes narrowed. She was sure she had never seen this man before, which left only one other possibility, which he confirmed a second later.

"Your father, his heart was in the right place. But he was a fool, he thought himself superior to the demons, where in truth, all humans are nothing before-"

Lady delivered a very swift and brutal kick to the man's face, causing him to fall backward. It would have broken his nose, had she not been barefooted.

"Scum like you don't get to talk about him to my face." She said through gritted teeth.

"Very well. Our time is short, anyway!" Then, out of nowhere, a pointy black spike drove itself through the man's chest. Lady leaped backward a few feet.

"Though my blood may not be pure, it will be enough to slay the likes of you!"

Then the man was yanked backward into the alcove, and the sounds of ripping and tearing and gnawing could be heard. But Lady still couldn't see anything more then a shadow of something shaped like a panther. She unloaded several bullets into the alcove. The first few seemed to hit something, but the next several hit rock, and she stopped firing. Low on ammo, she let her magazines drop out of her guns and reached for more.

Then she caught sight of movement as she rammed the magazines into her guns, and turned toward it. Next to the bonfire, a black puddle appeared next to it, one that rapidly formed into the shape of a pitch black panther with glowing red eyes.

Lady fired her pistols several times at it, causing some small amounts of damage as it hissed at her. Then it stood up straight, as if it was trying to stand on its toes, and its face suddenly extended into a spike, which shot at Lady. She dove out of the way, only for her to hear the clattering sound of the bonfire being knocked over a second before the room was plunged into darkness.

* * *

"So, how'd I do?"

Dante was backstage once more, now that the show was over, and once again in front of the show runner.

"That was one of the most fantastic performances I've ever seen! The song selection, the choreography, the extras who somehow jumped out of nowhere….it was fantastic!"

"Great!" Dante said, clearly pleased with himself. "So that means I win, right?"

He nodded. "The vote was pretty unanimous. Congratulations, kid."

He then held out a briefcase. Dante opened it, a wide grin on his face. Then the grin vanished as he saw there was only 5 one hundred dollar bills in it.

"What gives? What the hell is this?" He asked.

"Your prize money." The show runner said firmly.

"The add said you were offering 50k!" Dante yelled.

"We do. But your fireworks destroyed my stage, and most of your money's going toward the repairs we have to do on it. You're lucky you're even getting that much."

"Man, are you kidding me?" Dante asked, throwing up his hands in frustration. The show runner sighed.

"Look, kid, you did good. I might look you up again someday to do another show, and so long as you don't blow up my stage next time, you'll get good money. But for now, that's what you're getting."

Dante sighed as he turned and started walking away.

"Oh, and next time, bring a band!" The showrunner yelled.

"Whatever." Dante muttered as he left. He was disappointed, no question, but at least he'd have enough to pay off his pizza tab. He wondered what the hell Lady and Vergil were up to. Probably doing better then getting screwed over by show business, right?

* * *

Lady was in a poor situation, to say the least. The torches around the room were still lit, some moonlight was coming out of the hole in the roof, and Lady could vaguely make out the exit. But beyond that, the room was pitch black. Lady's first instinct was to rush the door and pull back, but she had no doubt the demon was expecting that and waiting to skewer her if she did.

So she resisted that impulse, and slowly put one of her guns in her holster. This wasn't going to be a fight she won here, not without the rest of the armory she usually carried. She tried to mentally slow her heartbeat, quiet her breathing, and focus on any noise she could hear that would give away when it was attacking. She was going to have to wait, and try to find an opening to flee.

Her eyes and attention had been on the ground, so when she heard a spinning sound up in the air, it took her a second to look up, and in that second, the demon launched itself at her. She frantically ducked to the side as the demon, who had turned itself into a spinning sawblade of death, tried to bisect her. She managed to avoid serious injury, but took a glancing blow to her arm. The blow, despite only being a moderate cut, was still enough to drive her to the ground as she bit back a scream of pain, and she quickly scrambled backward, expecting a follow up that didn't come.

As she stood up, her back impacted one of the torches, almost knocking it over. With her free hand, she caught it on reflex, holding it in front of her and enabling her to see the demon back in cat form pacing to the side but not doing anything. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the murals on the wall, and she suddenly got an idea. She held the torch behind her, and let the flame touch the mural.

She didn't exactly have time to give it a close examination, but whatever material it was made out of was clearly flammable, as it went on fire more or less as soon as she touched it, providing considerably more light then she had before. As the demon became visible again, she saw it stand up in the same way it had the last time it shot a spike. Lady ducked out of the way as it shot again. By this point, she had started to pick up on the fact that it didn't seem to have the ability to rapidly follow up, and so she took her opening and sprinted to the door and out of the room.

* * *

Vergil entered the wine cellar. He took a quick look around, and saw the out of place cask that marked the entrance to where he was going. He started approaching it, only to hear rapidly approaching footsteps. He paused, reaching for his blade, only for Lady to round the corner and run directly into him.

"Vergil!" She said in shock at bumping into him here. "There's a-"

" _Move!"_

Vergil shoved Lady to the side and then leaned to the side himself as a large spike drove its way through where they had been a second ago. Vergil quick drew his katana and tried to sever the spike, only for his blade to literally bounce off the demon and send him staggering backward. Lady backed up next to him as the demon paused, reevaluating the threat.

"Not one of  _these_ demons." Vergil spat out with disgust.

"You've encountered this type before?" Lady asked as she drew her other gun out of its holster.

"Not in person." Vergil said as he shook his head. "It's called a Shadow. Very rare breed, swords bounce off of it with no effect. The only way to damage it with one is to strike at its core, but to do that you have to break through the outer shell."

"Is that so?" Lady asked, smirking as she cocked back the barrel on one of her guns. "Guess it's a good thing I'm here then, isn't it? Keep it busy."

Vergil took a few steps forward to attract the demon's attention as he ripped his tux's suit coat off, striping down to the vest. The demon, as if in response, suddenly started to generate purple smoke from its body. Then the demon raised a paw, one that extended to become a giant claw, and slashed at Vergil. Vergil jumped and tucked into a ball to avoid banging against the ceiling as he landed on the other side of the demon, slapping it with his sheathed katana, less to do damage and more to attract its attention. What he didn't expect was for the demon's tail to suddenly turn into a mace and attempt to smash into him repeatedly, an act which forced him on the defensive.

"You know-" Vergil started saying as he defending himself. "-this isn't how I envisioned our first date unfolding, Mary."

While he defended himself, Lady started to rapidly unload her handguns into the demon's face, which seemed to do some damage, based on his reaction to the bullets being to flinch away from them.

"And what exactly  _did_ you have in mind?"

As soon as he finished attempting to strike Vergil, the demon sunk partially into the ground and rushed forward at Lady, its body turning into several thin, sharp tendrils that all lashed forward at Lady. Vergil teleported in front of her before it reached her, blocking some of them with his sword while others struck his body, not helping the condition of his tux.

"I was thinking a nice, quiet dinner, myself, just the two of us." Vergil said, his tone of voice completely at odds with the serious situation unfolding. Lady took a few steps back, reloading her guns.

"You really  _are_ old fashioned, Vergil. I find it's kind of sweet, to be honest, most men aren't like that these days." The demon reformed into its normal form, and Lady leaned around Vergil, resuming shooting it in the face. "But let's be honest, this is what we both enjoy the most. Anything else would be just lying to ourselves."

"Be that as it may-" Vergil had to jump backward for a second as the demon suddenly turned into what could be best described as a Venus Flytrap and attempted to eat him whole. Once the bite missed, he stepped forward again, continuing to block its path. "-does it count as a date if this is our day job?"

"It does if we say it does." Lady said as her magazines ran dry again, and she reached for the last of her magazines, loading them in. "Besides, you weren't even supposed to be here. So I'm counting it as a first date."

The demon, seeming to grow frustrated with its lack of success, stood on its toes once again and fired a spike at Vergil. Rather than just dodge like Lady, Vergil leaped over it and landed on top of the extended spike.

"As long as you're satisfied with it, I am."

Lady's bullet's continued to pound on the demon, and the repeated fire did its work, causing the demon to break open and reveal a large, glowing core at its center. Vergil, not wasting time, moved in for the kill, delivering a rapid and brutal series of slashes at the core, finishing up with a final blow that shattered it into a million pieces. The remaining black goo that represented what was once the demon melted away into the floor and vanished. Vergil slowly sheathed his sword, then turned to Lady.

"Are you ok?" He asked, motioning toward her arm wound, which was still bleeding.

"Don't worry, I'm ok, just need to get that patched up." She shivered a bit, both from still being slightly chilly from the cold water and the torn dress exposing parts of her skin. Vergil reached down, grabbed his suit jacket, and draped it over her. She accepted it with a silent nod of thanks.

"Let's go back upstairs"" He said. "The parmedics are likely here by now."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Vergil and Lady were back on the road. Lady, who had taken a limo to get to the mansion, was naturally now riding with Vergil, the suit jacket still on her body and her wound wrapped in bandages under it. She had her head tilted to the side, resting on Vergil's shoulder, while Vergil kept one arm wrapped around her. By mutual consent, they had decided not to discuss the case right away, electing rather to just enjoy some quiet time with each other. Vergil was the first to break the silence.

"So, how long do you think it will take for them to get anything useful out of those scrawls that pass as notes you found?"

Lady shrugged. "Who knows? Morrison says he'll keep on top of it. But one thing he said they did tell him, they don't think that group we took out was the only one. There may be more, doing the same thing. "

"Then they'll be dealt with in the same way." Vergil said firmly. "Those guards?"

"Supposedly, hired by a third party. According to their story, they believed Mr Antonio to be a threat to himself, and had been instructed to ensure he did not deviate from his normal activities."

Vergil snorted. "And these fools actually believe that?"

"Maybe, maybe not. That's for the police to deal with." She shrugged. "And speaking of, what did you do to that poor man? He was more scared of you then he was those guards!"

"Among other things, he witnessed me shrug off a bullet to the head."

"Oh." Lady considered this for a moment. "I'll have to have a conversation with him later. He was still very grateful."

"And how grateful was he once you stripped him of his money?" Vergil asked sarcastically.

"Actually, I didn't charge him, in the end." Vergil glanced at Lady in shock. "No, I decided I have enough money, for now. But now a rich, wealthy, connected man likes us, and more importantly, he's indebted to us. A favor or two down the road from someone like him would be worth more then another few numbers in my bank account."

A moment of silence passed between them as the conversation died down.

"There is one thing I can tell you now." Vergil said after a few minutes. "I know the name of their master, the demon they serve."

Lady blinked, and looked over at Vergil. "Oh?"

"That statue that was in their lair. I recognized the demon. He is known as Mundus, the Prince of Darkness, The Demon Emperor, and a dozen other names. 2000 years ago, Sparda opposed him in his war against the demon world, and sealed him away. I know not what these humans are playing at, but if Mundus is indeed attempting to return, then these fools must be slain."

Lady nodded, and put her own arm around his shoulder. "Well, it's great we know that now. But right now, we can't do anything about it. And I want to enjoy the rest of this night." She looked down at the torn remains of what had once been a beautiful dress, and sighed. "I spent a lot of money on this dress, too."

"Well, I have two things to say about that." Vergil said with a smirk. "Firstly, I honestly prefer the dress like that. It looked wonderful on you, but now, it looks...how shall I say, primal. It has the look of a battle dress, worn by a warrior."

Lady chuckled. "If you were anyone else, I'd be talking about how that's such a  _male_ thing to say."

"Secondly." Vergil went on, moving the hand over her shoulder to grasp her face. "I wasn't planning to leave much of that dress intact myself, once we got home and to your bed."

"Ohhhhh, is  _that_  how you play in bed, Vergil?" Lady said in a teasing tone. "Better hope you're ready to receive in kind."

There was a long pause as they continued down the empty, dark country road. Then Lady had a thought.

"Hey, Vergil. I'm still cold." Lady said, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Should I put the roof up and turn on the heat?" Vergil asked innocently.

"Well, you  _could_ do that. But I think I know a more...entertaining way to warm up."

Vergil glanced at her in confusion, and she leaned into his ear.

"We don't need to wait to get home. You have a perfectly conformable and soft backseat. I say we  _use_ it...if you get my meaning?"

Vergil slowly grinned as he realized what she was suggesting, and he pulled the car over to the side of the road before shutting it off and turning to grab her.


	16. The Blitz

The skies were dark as a man in a dark hoodie, hood up and covering his face, entered the ally. Not the traditional vestments of his order, but in this day and age, black hoodies and jeans drew far fewer glances in public then black robes. He had been called here for a meeting. With who, he had no idea, but they had managed to call him on a top secret number that only a few trusted members of his group knew. All he had been told was that Mundus was sending someone, and he was to meet with them. And so he was here, hands in his pockets, unsure what to expect.

Then, a voice spoke, one that was clearly female. "About time you showed."

He turned, trying to see this person, but she stood in the shadows. "I am here, as requested. You are….?"

"Not important." She said, waving a hand and brushing off his question. "I'm new. Mundus has personally sent me to deal with you."

"I…." He fell to his knees. "This is the happiest day of my life! I-"

"Don't get ahead of yourself." She said, cutting him off. "I'm not here to pat you on the head and tell you what a good little minion you've been. Mundus isn't happy."

The man clearly didn't expect this, and he stammered for a moment. "I….but, I did what I could to-"

"And that's not good enough." The woman said as she stepped forward, revealing herself. She was a blonde, long haired woman with a corset, long leather pants, and a pair of high heeled boots on. She reached up and lowered a pair of black sunglasses she had on her face to peer over them for a moment. "Or did you seriously think a demon lord is going to accept "I tried" as an excuse?"

"Please….." The man started to shake in fear. "Just give me another chance!"

"You've had well over a year now." She said as she casually examined her nails. "And you haven't even so much as inconvenienced the Sons of Sparda. Sure, you killed a bunch of humans to power those rituals, managed to avoid being arrested by the police or shot by those two. But do you think Mundus cares about that? He wants them dead."

"These things, they, they take time, I've been doing experiments, trying to determine what sort of human blood empowers demons the most. Once I'd done that, I intended to empower a great demon to smite them, once and for all!"

"Uh huh." The woman looked bored as she nodded. "That's a cute story, but I don't care. My instructions were clear. Mundus is tired of waiting, and it's almost time for him to return. If you can't do the job, he has another plan in mind to deal with the Sons of Sparda."

He prepared to start begging again, but she raised her hand to silence him before he could say anything. "You have 24 hours to kill them. And if you don't…" Electricity started to crackle in her hand, and she let herself trail off, the message clear.

"I…..but….it will take time to get demons strong enough for such a task prepared, and-"

She sighed, placing her hand on her hip. "Yes, yes. I've taken the liberty of dealing with that. You'll have what you need, but it'll be up to you to use them properly."

"Thank, thank you, I-"

She suddenly leaped 30 feet into the air and landed on the roof of the building behind her. "24 hours. Make sure it gets done."

She walked away, and the man slowly got off of his knees. Then he started leaving himself, pulling out a phone as he did so.

* * *

It was mid morning in the Devil May Cry office, and today had proven to be a rather slow day so far. With no jobs having come up, the three of them were sitting at the table, each holding a set of cards in their hands.

"Call." Vergil said. Both he and Lady had a roughly equal amount of chips in front of them, Lady with a slight edge over Vergil.

"Fold." Dante said in a defeated tone as he laid his cards down, his already small chip pile growing smaller. "You know, at some point, I need to go buy a game or two that you two won't trounce me in."

"You're just a little too easy to read, Dante." Lady said as she dealt the 5th card to the center of the table.

"I'll raise to 50." Vergil said as he slid more chips into the pot.

"Ohhhhhh. Confident, are we?" Lady asked him with a smirk.

"Well, what's life without a little risk?" He asked with a grin.

"Incredibly boring is what it is." Lady said with a smile. "Which is why I'm raising to 100." She slid more chips into the pot.

"I'll call that." He slid his own chips in as she did, their hands touching each other as they did so.

Dante, for his part, just chuckled and shook his head. When they had come home that night he went to the Battle of the Bands, even Dante had noticed they were far more friendly and, as he put it, hands on then they had been before. He'd pressed Vergil for details, but he had refused to say a word. But even though they hadn't gone and formally announced it, it was pretty clear, not only to him, but everyone in their informal circle, that the two had finally gotten over the "Just Friends" hump and were now dating.

"Alright, let's see them." Lady said. Vergil put down his cards.

"Full house."

Lady nodded, seemingly impressed by this. Vergil reached for the chips, only for Lady to grab his wrist. Slowly, she placed her own cards down.

"Straight flush." She said with a smirk.

"Damn." Vergil cursed as Lady swept the chips up.

"Don't worry, I'll pay you back tonight. With  _interest._ "

At that moment, a massive boom shook the office as a large truck, marked with the logo of a local moving company, crashed directly through the front wall of the office before coming to a halt as it impacted one of the pillars in the office. All three of them turned to look at the truck in shock. There was a long moment of silence as the truck sat there, wheels continuing to spin. Vergil was the first to speak.

"There's no driver."

Indeed, there was no sign of a driver, injured or not, in the front part of the truck.

"Break time's over, boys " Lady said as she stood up and reached over to grab her missile launcher from off the floor where it had fallen.

"Ha, demons deliver right to your door now?" Dante laughed as he grabbed his pistols off the table. "Now that's what I call convenience!"

Inside the truck, something huge started slashing at the walls, ripping holes in it.

"You know, you're pretty chill, considering we just lost the front wall." Dante said to Lady. She shrugged as she lifted her missile launcher and pointed it at the truck.

"That's why we have insurance. You know, that thing you told me was a waste of money?" She pulled the trigger on her missile launcher halfway, beginning to overclock the rocket inside of it.

"To be fair to him, those premiums were mad." Vergil said as he grabbed his own blade and took up a stance.

"Look at what just happened to our wall. Can you blame them for labeling us as "High Risk"?" Lady asked with another shrug as her missile reached full power. The demon finished slashing through the truck, and Lady unleashed her missile at the opening. As it flew at the opening, a quick moving lightning bolt flew past it, rapidly moving toward the three. The missile impacted with the other side of the truck, and the whole back end exploded.

The recoil pushed Lady backward several feet as the lightning bolt came to a stop in front of them and suddenly transformed into a large demon. It was the size of a large bear, with a head that had a giant horn on it, a hardened body that was covered in bone armor, and giant, three fingered claws on each of its hands. In addition, it was also covered from head to toe in crackling electricity.

The demon was already in motion as it appeared, lunging at Lady with an electrified claw swipe. Before it got more then a few inches toward her, both Dante and Vergil moved to intercept it, swinging their swords simultaneously at it. The swords impacted, and while they managed to stop the momentum of the demon, both of the brothers were forced backward as they were shocked by the lightning, coming to a stop next to Lady.

"No ordinary demon, this one." Vergil observed. The demon then vanished again, turning into a bolt of lightning as it rapidly moved around the room at random, knocking things off walls, destroying furniture, and generally causing the rest of the office to look like the front wall.

"We got a plan?" Dante yelled.

"Until we weaken the beast and force away the lightning, we cannot approach it in melee."

Dante nodded as he sheathed his blade and pulled out his pistols. "Not a problem for me. You gonna be alright?"

"I have my ways." Vergil said. "Lady?"

"Too quick moving for the missiles. Keep him busy, I've got a little present from Nico that I've been itching to try."

Lady pulled back as the demon reappeared, roaring as it lifted its hands in front of him and fired a beam of electricity at the two.

"Split up!" Vergil ordered. The two brothers leaped in opposite directions as they dodged the beam. Dante started shooting his pistols at the demon, drawing its attention. It shifted back into lightning form and zipped around for a few moments before suddenly reappearing behind Dante, clawing for his back. Dante leaped, and Vergil was ready. Already gripping his blade, he unsheathed it an inch. Around the demon, a sphere of energy appeared, one that exploded into cuts all around the demon a second later. As this happened, Vergil launched several summoned energy swords at him, each impacting and shattering as it did so.

Lady, meanwhile, was busy opening a sturdy looking ammunition box, something she'd picked up a while ago from some army surplus store and tough enough that it hadn't been destroyed or damaged by the demon's rampage, just thrown a few feet. Finding what she was looking for, she pulled out two magazines, both of which were red rather than the standard black. A warning was inscribed on them.

"DO NOT USE IN ANY GUN YOU INTEND TO CONTINUE TO USE"

Lady reached for the floor, and grabbed two unloaded pistols that had once hung on the wall before getting knocked down. She loaded the guns, cocked back the slides, and moved to return to the fight. By this point, the demon was firing wide, sweeping beams of electricity at Vergil, who was dodging but not exactly in a position to counter. Dante was doing his job and firing his guns, but they were not doing much.

So Lady lifted her own guns, and started firing. The sheer sound of the gunshots was almost twice as loud as the normal gunshots, and even with the electricity still around him, the demon staggered for a brief second as the rounds impacted him and proceeded to explode on impact. She continued to fire, slower then normal as she struggled to control the sheer recoil these rounds were creating. As the mags emptied and the demon continued to stagger, the electricity died out. With the mags empty, she casually discarded the guns, who's innards were now destroyed beyond any hope of repair, by tossing them over her shoulders.

With the electricity gone, the demon noticeably slowed, no longer able to enter its electric form. Both Dante and Vergil moved as one, moving forward from both sides and slashing at it. Dante repeatedly stabbed at it with the point of his blade, and Vergil slashed quickly enough that it was difficult to even see his arm move. The demon lifted its claw and tried to slash at them both by spinning. Both of them jumped into the air, and then came down with their own versions of horizontal slashes to the head. Both of them then heard the distinctive sound of Lady's missile launcher reaching full power, and ducked out of the way right as the missile passed them, leaping backward to land next to Lady as the demon was engulfed in a massive explosion.

The demon, having already suffered serious damage, started glowing with red electricity. All three of the demon hunters readied their weapons again as it floated into the air, but he started convulsing uncontrollably, and after a few seconds, he exploded. Once they were sure the demon was dead, they lowered their weapons, just in time for the fancy chandelier on the ceiling to crash into the ground, shattering into a million pieces. Vergil grimaced.

"Damn it. I spent an absurd amount of time getting this office set up." He said. Lady patted him on the shoulder.

"Like I said,  _this_ is why we paid for the insurance. We can get this all replaced."

Vergil didn't seem satisfied by this. "This was a deliberate attack."

"Well, no shit!" Dante yelled, pointing at the van. "Vans with demons in them don't just randomly crash into buildings!"

The sounds of sirens started to approach.

"Whoever did this will  _pay_." Vergil said coldly.

"Shit, Lady, you're starting to rub off on your boyfriend."

She shook her head in amusment as she reached into one of her pouches and pulled out her cell phone. "I'm going to give Morrison a call."

The three, by mutual consent, started to leave the destroyed office.


	17. Good Cop and Bad Cop

There were more police cars on the block then any of the three demon hunters had seen on their street before. Of course, this had hardly been the first incident at their office, and officers had come in the past in the aftermath of those incidents, if only to check on them, but this had been the first incident that caused serious and obvious structural damage to the building, and as such, the response from emergency services had been more then it usually was.

The three themselves were standing in front of the building. Next to them, in his usual suit and hat, was Morrison, smoking a cigar.

"I'll make arrangements for your things. Your Devil Arms, Lady's armory, whatever else is still intact in there. Make sure it's secure until they finish the repairs."

"Thanks, Morrison." Lady said with a grateful nod.

"Anytime"

Suddenly, Lady felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she got the funny feeling that she was being watched. She frowned, and looked over her shoulder, up at a nearby roof. She didn't see anything other then an empty roof, although for a second she thought she saw some long yellow hair. She stared for a moment, unsure. Even if someone  _had_ been watching, there was a lot going on, it wouldn't be unexpected for curious locals to be watching. She turned back around, arms crossed.

"Do we have any idea who is responsible for this?" Vergil asked Morrison.

"Not sure. Police are combing the area now, knocking on doors, seeing if anyone saw anything. We'll see if-"

"OVER HERE!"

A flurry of activity suddenly sprang up as several officers suddenly ran toward an alley, guns drawn.

"Speak of the devil…" Lady said.

As one, the four of them walked toward the alley, Morrison hanging behind the other three. They turned to find their view blocked by over a dozen uniformed officers, although the fact that no one was shooting meant the immediate threat was dealt with.

"Suspect secured!" Someone in the front yelled. "Get the civilian out of here!"

The crowd, with some difficulty, cleared out of the way, and a large, heavyset Italian man made his way past.

"Hey!" Dante immediately stepped forward. "Tony! What the hell are you doing here?"

"I saw the guy, Dante." Tony's face was red, covered in sweat, and he was out of breath. "The guy who set that truck on your office. So I chased him, haven't ran that hard in years. It was all I could do to tackle him and hold him down, I couldn't even yell, I was so out of breath!"

"You did good, Tony." Dante reassured him, clapping him on the shoulder. "I owe you one."

"I'll settle for you paying your tab." He said, shaking his head. "The rest, just a service for my best customer."

At that point, Lady stepped forward, pulling out her wallet. She took a stack of 100 dollar bills out and placed them in Tony's hand. "Keep the change for your tip." She turned toward Dante. "And this is only because he did us a favor. Don't expect me to pay it again."

"Whatever you say, I won't argue with my loan shark."

An officer approached Tony. "Sir, we need to have the medics check you out, and then we need a statement."

"I'll go with him." Dante announced. "Once you're done, I'm hungry."

Both Lady and Vergil rolled their eyes as Dante left with Tony.

"Some things never change." Morrison chuckled to himself.

Meanwhile, the officers slowly started to file out of the alley, and the three of them could now see the captive man, a younger male with a tee shirt, jeans, and worn sneakers on. He was laying facedown on the ground, handcuffed by both the hands and feet. An officer who had a rank badge that marked him as a captain stepped in front of them to stop them while a second officer, who seemed to be a normal beat cop, finished securing him.

"We have the situation under control, I'll be handling the questioning and transport of this one personally."

Slowly, Vergil walked up, until he was inches from touching the captain.

"I have to ask you to move along,  _sir._ " He said sternly. Vergil sniffed the air.

"New cologne?" Vergil asked with a raised eyebrow.

The man looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Lady slowly moved her arm back and pushed Morrison out of the way.

"The smell. Very….unique. Burnt charcoal, and the lingering stench of ash. Not a natural smell. Not for a  _human,_ anyway." The captain's eyes went wide. "You might have fooled the humans, but did you truly believe you could fool a Son of Sparda with such a pathetic disguise?"

The beat cop looked over at the two, prepared to tell off the man in the blue coat for disrespecting an officer, just in time to see his captain's skin shred like paper, and a black skinned, long armed demon leap out of it at Vergil. Vergil, clearly not in the mood, did not bother with the theatrics, and just slashed the demon in half, blood spilling across the alley as it fell into two parts. The beat cop's jaw dropped.

"Cap-Captain Anderson! What-"

"I am afraid your captain is dead." Vergil said as he flicked the blood off his blade and sheathed it. "Likely has been for some hours. We need to speak with him." Vergil motioned with his sword toward the prisoner.

"But….I can't…. procedure says…." The officer looked between Vergil and the prisoner, clearly unsure.

"Son." Morrison said as he stepped around Lady and walked over to the officer. "Why don't we take a walk?"

"But-"

"You don't want to be around to see what happens next. See no evil, and all that shit." He helped the officer to his feet, wrapped his arm around the man's shoulder, and guided him out of the alley, leaving the cuffed suspect alone with Vergil and Lady. There was a long moment of silence before it was broken by the suspect.

"Who-who are you?" He asked in a nervous stutter.

"The man who owns the office you drove a truck with a demon into." Vergil said, glaring at the man.

"Wha-demon?" The man said in shock. "Lo-look man, I, I don't know what was in it. They didn't say, I didn't ask."

"They?" Lady asked, stepping next to Vergil.

"The people who gave me the truck! I didn't know what was in it, or who they wanted me to send the truck at! They just paid me and told me to do it!"

Vergil placed the point of his sword against the man's throat. "And they are…?"

"They didn't give me a name, man! I don't know!"

"Try harder. Or I'll try to jog your memory by breaking bones."

"You, you can't do that!" The man sputtered. "Cops can't use torture!"

Vergil reached down and grabbed the man, dragging him up to look Vergil in the eyes. "Do I look like a cop, fool?" The man whimpered, and Vergil continued to look unimpressed. "Your reckless actions threatened the safety of the woman I love. I have no sympathy for you. There are 206 bones in the human body. I will shatter each of them, one by one, until you give me something I can use!"

Fear overrode everything else on the man's face, and Vergil grabbed the man's pinky finger. "We'll start here."

"Vergil." Lady placed her hand on his shoulder. "Let me talk to him."

He looked at her for a moment. Then he shook his head and walked out of the alley. She turned to face the man, who had not calmed down as he stared at the armory she had on her person.

"Please….. don't shoot me."

"I just want to talk." She said, holding up a reassuring hand. "We need to find the people who attacked us. If we don't, more people are going to get hurt. Not just us."

"I can't….I don't know…."

Lady sighed. "Then you'll be taken into custody, you'll be convicted of 3 counts of attempted murder, and trafficking with demons on top of that. You'll be lucky if you ever see the outside of a prison again. Help me out, and I can help  _you_ out."

The man looked to his left and right, as if someone would jump out of the walls. "I….look, if, if I say anything….they could find me, they made it very clear, they'll kill me if I talk."

"And what do you think he was here to do?" Lady pointed at the dead demon, and he gulped. "You're already a liability. They won't stop coming until you're dead. Give me something to work with, and I'll have a man I know speak with the cops, get you a slap on the wrist. You'll be held in protective custody until we deal with your employers."

He continued to look around for a moment, but he seemed to have reached his decision. "Ok, er, well…when he was walking up to me, he was on a cell phone with someone. Bitching about the mountains, how long it takes to get to the city from there."

Lady nodded. "That narrows it down. What else? Anything unusual, out of place?"

"On the other end of the block, there was a weird car, never seen one in person, one of them things they transport bodies in, a, what do you call it…."

"A hearse?"

He nodded rapidly "Ya, that's the one! And, the guy, he smelled like dead bodies, and his clothing was covered in white rock stains, looked like he spent lots of time in some rocky place. That's all I know."

Lady nodded. "Alright. You've been a big help. Do yourself a favor, and get an honest job once you're out."

She turned and walked away. A group of officers rushed past her as she exited the alley and turned to Vergil, who was leaning on a wall next to it.

"Well?" She asked, knowing he had heard all of that.

"There is an old, abandoned graveyard in the mountains. Known mostly for having an elaborate set of catacombs underneath it that are made to look as if it was built of marble."

"Perfect place to hide a cult of madman." Lady said with a nod. "Find Dante and get your car. We're going on a road trip."


	18. Road Rash

The three demon hunters were now inside Vergil's blue convertible. They were currently driving on a winding two lane road along the mountain, with a cliff to their left that sharply dropped, a narrow metal railing all that stood between a driver not paying attention and their death. To the right was the mountain, again only a few feet from the road. The mountain was at about a 60 degree angle.

They had been driving for hours, and any casual conversation had long died off, replaced by uneasy tension. Vergil was naturally at the driver seat, and his eyes were firmly locked on the road, hands angrily clenching the wheel hard enough to put it at risk of being crushed. He took a moment to roll his neck, making cracking noises.

"How many times are you going to do that?" He asked, glancing to his right at Lady, who was busy focusing on one of her pistols as she did yet another check of the gun, making sure the ammo was loaded, there were no jams, and other routine checks.

"I'm just trying to keep my hands busy. Sorry, is it annoying you? I can stop."

Vergil shook his head. "No, no, it's just….this blasted trip is taking forever. I've been driving all afternoon."

He waved his hand to his right, toward the sun that was setting beyond the cliff drop.

"Want to switch?" Lady offered.

"No, according to the device-"

"GPS, Vergil."

"-according to the  _GPS,_ we're almost there. Shouldn't be long now."

There was another momentary pause as each of them returned to their tasks.

"Is he still sleeping?" Vergil asked after a few minutes. Lady checked behind her, looking at Dante, who was leaning on the door, head resting in one of his hands as he snored away, two pizza boxes on the seat next to him.

"Yep. Must be nice. Wish I could just take a nap whenever I wanted like him."

"I'm not stopping you." Vergil said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I can handle this."

"That's not the problem. The problem is I can't relax." She shook her head, clearly annoyed with herself.

"Getting jitters before a major fight is hardly an uncommon reaction. Nothing to be ashamed of."

"Not for me, not usually." Lady insisted as she shoved her pistol into a holster. "It's stupid, I've been doing this for years, I should be used to this by now, but lately, every time I go on a job, I've had this happen, where I get all tense and nervous, and I don't know why." She sighed. "There are some days I just wish I could be like Dante, without a care in the world."

Vergil shook his head. "Would you like to know something, Mary?" Lady looked over at him, eyebrow raised. "I've been having the same issue as you, lately."

"Wha-you too?" She asked, blinking in surprise. "But why? You're way tougher then I could ever hope to be."

"Ah, but that's not it." Vergil said as he shook his head. "And I don't believe that's the reason for you, unless you've suddenly lost confidence in your skills?"

"Hell no!" Lady said firmly.

Vergil nodded with approval. "Then I can only reach one conclusion. We have something to lose now."

Lady tilted her head, considering this. "You mean….us?"

He nodded again. "We are no longer just fighting for our own sakes, as we once did. And with that comes added pressure, the fear that your failure will hurt not yourself, but the ones special to us."

Lady tapped her fingers on the dashboard, considering this for a long moment.

"….I think you're right. Any advice on how to cope with it?"

Vergil took a deep breath. "The best advice I can give is what I told myself. We must have confidence in ourselves, and we must trust in each other."

Lady nodded, and looked into her rear view mirror as a motorcycle came into view, ridden by a man in a black biker's suit and a helmet that covered his head.

"Thanks, Vergil." Lady muttered.

"Anytime."

Behind the first motorcycle, a second one came into view, the driver dressed the same. A third came up behind that one.

"Vergil…." Lady said cautiously as the sunlight glinted off of something metal on one of their hips.

"I see them. Wake him up."

Lady climbed into the backseat and elbowed Dante.

"We there yet!?" He asked loudly as he woke up.

"No, but some of the party has come to us!" Lady said as she drew a pistol.

"A warm up, eh? I can get behind that!" Dante said as he drew his own pistols.

"Deal with these pests!" Vergil yelled from the front. More men had shown up by this point, and there was over a dozen behind them now, with more continuing to show up.

"Hey, Lady. You feeling lucky today?" Dante asked. She smirked.

"Race to see who gets more?"

"Hell yes."

She took a second to consider. "Alright. You're the challenger, set your demands."

"I win, you pay my pizza tab for the next 6 months."

"Fine. And if I win, you're paying my next bill to Monique's Boutique. The spring catalog is coming in next week, and I'll be doing some serious shopping."

Vergil sighed from the front. "Must you really?"

"Come on, bro, we gotta keep it interesting!" Dante yelled. "These guys ain't gonna be much threat."

The first two men lifted their guns, each holding mini-uzis which they held at a 90 degree angle. Nether got the chance to fire before each of them received a single bullet, one killed by Dante and one killed by Lady. Their bodies fell, twisting into the same blackened demonic forms that they had encountered elsewhere. This pattern continued for the first few enemies.

Then they started coming in bigger waves of 3, 4, 5, demanding quicker shots. One or two managed to get quick bursts off, but rather then aim for Dante and Lady, they targeted the car itself. The back was riddled with bullets, and one of the bullets impacted a tire. The car squealed as Vergil twisted the wheel to try to keep the car from spinning out. The enemies responsible were swiftly dispatched.

During the lull, Lady reached for one of her pouches, taking out a mag of ammo and shoving it horizontally into her mouth, biting down on it to hold it.

"Lady, if you were hungry, you should have asked me for some pizza earlier!"

That quip earned him a kick to the shins as she fired again, taking out another one. Then the next group rounded the corner, and rather then a motorcycle, they saw a large pickup truck, with a driver and a passenger who appeared to have an AK. Said passenger lifted his gun and fired as soon as he could see the car, the result being that while he was wildly inaccurate, he forced them to take cover for a second.

When the gunfire stopped, they looked back up to see another 4 motorcycles making their way around it. These men seemed to have learned a bit, and were swerving in an effort to make hitting them harder. This only delayed the death of the first two.

As the second one hit the ground, Lady's gun clicked on an empty mag. It was at that moment that a third man, who had been hiding in the back of the pickup, leaped to his feet as the truck neared the car. He was holding an RPG-7, and wasted no time in aiming and firing it at the car. Dante took aim, and shot the missile dead center as it flew between the two remaining motorcycles, causing it to explode early and kill them both.

Lady, meanwhile, ejected her empty mag and moved her gun toward the mag in her mouth. She opened her mouth as the gun and mag connected, preforming the whole reload in a single motion. She then worked the slide as she aimed, and fired, hitting the driver of the pickup truck directly in the forehead. The truck swerved, and crashed through the railing, falling over the cliff.

Right as they were prepared to relax, another dozen motorcycles rounded the corner.

"Oh come  _on,_ how many of these things are there!?" Dante yelled.

"They must be putting everything they have into this attack. That, or you owe someone even more money then you owe me!" Lady yelled.

"I don't think that's physically possible, Lady!" Dante yelled back.

"This smells of desperation!" Lady observed, slipping back into serious mode. "Hopefully that means we're closing in on the last of these people!"

"Blast!" Up in front, Vergil cursed as he saw a giant oil truck blocking the road ahead of him.

"Are you  _shitting_ me!?" Dante yelled as he saw it. "Where the  _hell_ did they get a goddamned oil truck?"

"Not important right now!" Lady yelled back.

"It's important to me!" He protested.

"Vergil, can you get around it!?" Lady yelled. Vergil looked up at the mountain next to them.

"Hold on!"

He reached for the gear shift, yanked back on it, then turned the wheel hard. The car tilted up high enough to where it was now driving on the right two wheels. He yanked on it again, and the car moved over and hit the mountain, the angle of approach allowing him to hit it flat. He shifted gears again, and started to drive up the cliff. Down on the ground, the bikers started firing at the car.

"Cover me!" Vergil yelled.

Lady swapped to her sub machine guns as she and Dante poked their heads up and started firing at the bikers. A couple were taken out, with at least one wiping out as he hit the fallen bike of one of the others, and the rest were forced to evade. As they were about to pass the truck, Lady dropped her guns on the car floor and held her hand backward.

"Pass me Kalina! Now!"

Vergil reached over to the passenger seat, grabbed her missile launcher off of the floor where it had been resting, and handed it backward. Lady grabbed it and spun it to face the oil truck as they passed it. Vergil twisted the wheel, returning to the street as Lady fired at the truck, causing the entire thing to go up in a massive fireball.

"I don't care how big the explosion was, that only counts as one kill!" Dante yelled, holding up one finger. "I'm still one ahead, so I win! You can make the checks out to-"

At that moment, two of the bikers tried to brave the flames and continue the chase, both getting covered in flames instantly and falling to the ground, clearly dead.

"You were saying?" Lady asked with a smirk. Dante just sighed.

"You win."

* * *

The graveyard was, naturally, deserted. If their targets had cars here, they were hidden, as theirs was the only car in the small parking lot as they pulled in. They got out, and Vergil walked to the back of his car, wincing at all the bullet holes.

"Remember, this is why we have insurance." Lady reminded him. He sighed in irritation, clearly not satisfied with that.

"Kinda disappointed." Dante said. "After that shit on the road, I was expecting them to have a welcoming party ready for us!"

"Don't complain or it'd going to be an ambush rather then a straight up fight." Lady said, wagging her finger.

"They  _must_ know we're here." Vergil said. "If they are not meeting us with force, that must mean they are preparing. We must make haste."

The three of them started moving quickly, walking though the dark, empty graveyard and toward the large building that marked the entrance to the catacombs, the only building that was lit with torches. Up above them, the same blonde woman who had set this into motion was standing on top of a tomb, watching the three walk toward the catacombs.

Lady suddenly stopped and turned around, looking up at the top of one of the tombs, sure she had heard something. The other two paused, looking back at her.

"See something?" Vergil asked. She paused a long moment, unsure.

"I thought so, but…" She hesitated, unsure.

"Well, it  _is_ a dark and creepy graveyard. Maybe you saw the  _zombies_ waiting to eat our  _brains_." Dante said in a spooky sounding tone, earning him a swift punch in the arm from Lady.

"That's not  _funny_!"

Dante laughed. "The big, bad Lady, afraid of a bunch of slow moving dead dudes!"

"I'm  _sure_ I can find you an empty grave to dump you in so you can enjoy them for yourself, if you're such a fan." Lady said, putting her hands on her hips.

" _Focus!"_ Vergil yelled as loud as he could while keeping his voice down. "Brother, stop insulting Lady and kindly keep the jokes to a minimum until  _after_ we deal with this!"

"Fine, fine, fine." Dante muttered as the three of them descended into the depths.


	19. DMD/VMD/LMD

They found themselves in a large room. As Vergil had said before, the floors and ceiling were made of white stone, although years of wear and tear had worn it away in places, exposing dirt and black rock below it. The room itself was practically a maze, a winding series of identical looking graves built into the various walls, the only light being provided by dim lanterns. It was fortunate, then, that their targets had conveniently left footprints in the dust that covered the ground, providing an easy to follow path for the three demon hunters.

The place itself was quiet, extremely so. So much so that Lady was getting jittery again, constantly looking back and forth, wondering where the hell these people were hiding, and ready for the ambush. Then, an echo sounded through the room.

"Ugggggghhhhhh….."

Lady spun around, her back impacting Vergil's as she drew a pistol, grabbing it with both hands and pointing it forward. She saw nothing, but it only took a second for her to figure out why, as Dante lost his composure and broke out into chuckles. She turned to glare at him.

"Oh, that was great! You still fell for it!"

Both she and Vergil were of one mind, and at the same time, they reached forward and slapped Dante upside the head.

"Grow up!" They both growled at the same time. Even after getting slapped, he was still chuckling.

"Oh come on, I had to break the tension  _somehow._ "

Both of them shook their heads at him.

"Time and place, Brother." Vergil muttered with no small amount of annoyance. "This is nether."

They continued walking, and soon enough came up to an elaborate, carved stone door. The door had what appeared to be a mural. On one door was various images of demons standing in front of a swirling vortex. And on the other side was a single man, with a gigantic sword in his hand.

"Father." Vergil muttered to himself. Then he reached for the door and pushed on it, only to find it refused to open. He pushed harder, and it still held. He put his ear against the door, and heard the odd sound of loud chewing. He took a step back.

"The door must be bared from the other side." Vergil said as he closely examined the door to find weak points. Then, Lady walked up, and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I think this needs a ladies touch." Lady said with a smirk. "Why don't you take, oh…..ten steps back?"

Both of the brothers turned to look at her as she pulled her missile launcher off of her back.

"That's a bit overkill, don't you think?" Dante asked. "We could probably just kick it open."

"The door is also a priceless artifact, possibly even unique" Vergil protested. "You can't just blow it up!"

Lady took a second to pull out her cell phone and snap a picture of the door, the flash causing the two brothers to blink. "There. All preserved."

Vergil sighed, giving up as he and Dante walked next to her.

"Why is she always so eager to fire that thing?" Vergil asked himself as Lady pressed the trigger halfway and started to charge the missile.

"She's your girlfriend, Vergil, not mine." Dante said with a shrug. "I've always thought she was compensating for something, or maybe that thing just felt like a vibrator to her. One that happens to slightly resemble a-"

"Vergil." Lady interrupted. "Please slap him for me."

Vergil reached over and slapped Dante upside the head twice.

"Ow! What the hell was the second one for?" Dante said as he gave Vergil an annoyed look

"For insinuating that  _mine_ wouldn't be enough to satisfy her."

It was at this point that Lady's missile reached full charge and she fired, blowing the door to pieces as a hole much larger then the door appeared. The chamber shook for a moment, dirt and rock falling from the ceiling for a few moments in the wake of the explosion.

"Game faces, boys." Lady said as she looked back at them. Both of them turned toward the door, faces shifting to a neutral expression. The three of them wordlessly lined up, Vergil in the center with his sheathed katana in his hand, Lady to his right, holding her missile launcher with one hand along the length of her right arm with it pointed so the point was almost touching the ground, and Dante to his left, with his longsword casually held over his shoulder.

Together, they entered the door.

* * *

If the previous room had been large, the following one was massive. It was about the size of a football field, and most of the room was empty, save for some carved pillars that sat in pairs every 10 yards down the room. Where the other room had been worn away, the rock in this place was still in pristine condition, not because it had been cared for any better, but because it had rarely seen use. Along the entire length of each wall were elaborate statues of various forms of demons, of all shapes and sizes, each of which had a name inscribed under it.

On the back wall was the centerpiece of the display, two statues, one of a man shaped bug demon swinging a giant sword, and the other a long haired, three eyed man holding his palm out to block the blow. On a placard in front of the statues, there was writing.

"A rendition of the battle between the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda, and the Demon Emperor, Mundus."

However, the demon hunting trio didn't have much time to admire all of this, as their attention was drawn to the exact center of the room. There, a large pile of dead bodies sat, each in a black cloak. Behind the pile, they saw the back of a giant, rocky spider demon, one that seemed to have cracks in it where what appeared to be lava was flowing. It was busy eating something, and seemed to be paying them no heed as it continued to eat and started to give off a purple mist.

"They're here!" A voice yelled, the owned hidden from view by the body pile. "The time has come to crush them, so that-"

The spider suddenly extended a stinger from his back, and impaled the man, lifting him up in the air as he screamed.

"No human gives  _me_ orders!"

The man, already losing strength, tried to grab the stinger with his hands. "No…..but the woman…..she said you were here to help me kill them….that's why I let you kill the rest of them, to empower yourself….but I was supposed to live…"

The demon laughed. "Stupid human. Let me guess, you saw a pretty face and trusted anything it said? Pathetic."

The demon twisted its stinger and threw the man away.

"A demon with no sense of loyalty." Vergil scoffed as the three of them approached. "I won't even pretend to be surprised."

"Loyalty?" The demon asked as he turned to face them. "What do I owe  _ants,_ groveling before their betters, begging for scraps? Humans exist only to be our food!"

"Not exactly a balanced diet." Dante said as he shrugged. "I mean, hey, great that you're eating your meat, but you eat too much of a good thing, it's gonna stop tasting good."

The demon paused, looking closely at the two brothers. "Ahhhh…. _you_ are the ones I've been ordered to kill. How convenient that you've come to  _me_. Saves me the hassle of finding you." He glanced at Lady. "But I was told there would only be two. Unless you thought to bribe me with this sweet little morsel?"

"You want a treat?" Lady pointed her missile launcher at him. "Open wide, and I'll give you something  _real_ tasty."

The demon laughed. "Good! I've had my fill of whimpering cowards today. It's always more satisfying to take someone who believes themselves mighty, and break them, destroy them, reduce them to begging for their lives!"

The three exchanged glances between each other.

"As it happens, this is one of the few points that I think all four of us will agree on." Vergil said.

The demon opened his mouth again, but this time, rather then words, he launched a fireball at the three. Dante and Vergil leaped forward into the air, jumping over the fireball, while Lady jumped to the side, quick drawing her sub machine guns and firing them as she fell to the ground and rolled.

As they did before, the two split up as they advanced on the demon. Vergil took the front, while Dante dashed forward in midair and took the back. Vergil drew his blade and swung at the demon's face, only to be intercepted by one of the demon's front legs, strength bolstered to such an absurd degree that even Vergil was being repelled without much issue. The second leg came in and smashed him in the chest, driving him backward.

A missile flew past Vergil as he slid backward. Before it reached the demon, he opened his mouth and launched another fireball, intercepting the missile and destroying it.

"Annoying pests!" The demon yelled as he slammed one of his legs down into the ground. As Vergil teleported back toward the demon, Lady suddenly felt the immediate area under her feet get much hotter. She bolted half a second before the ground irrupted into a pillar of lava right where she had been standing. She kept running as more pillars started going off, shifting her missile launcher to a one handed grip as she took out one of her sub machine guns again and fired on the run.

While this was going on, Dante was stuck contending with the spider's stinger tail, which was halting any attempt he made to attack as it swiped, stabbed, and slashed at him. After another dodge, he caught sight of Lady, still running from the flame pillars. He shifted himself over to the demon's side, still contending with the stinger, and looked over at her.

"Lady!"

She looked over at him as much as she was able without risking tripping over her feet, and saw Dante take a half second to jerk his thumb behind him at the demon. She realized what he was thinking, and turned, running directly at the demon. Dante dodged the stinger again as she reached him, and then interlocked his hands, holding them in front of him, palm up. Lady jumped, and rebounded off of Dante's hands as he launched her high in the air. He teleported out of the way of the incoming lava pillars as she flew over the demon.

The end result of this was that the next pillar irrupted directly under the demon. It didn't cause a huge amount of damage, but the blast caused it to stagger, momentarily stunned. The two brothers, not needing to speak to know what each other were thinking, both attacked the stinger, Vergil teleporting directly on top of the demon while Dante struck from the ground.

Lady had her own issues to deal with, as she landed in a roll and turned back to see that the blast had somehow knocked a bunch of what could only be described as tiny versions of him loose from….somewhere. Small enough to where she could stomp any one under her boot, but there were dozens heading toward her.

She dropped the missile launcher and drew her sub machine guns, both of which were already low on ammo. Not having time to reload before the first spiders got to her, she resorted to throwing the guns in the air, grabbing the mags out of a pouch and throwing those in the air, then drawing her pistols and firing as the first ones got within a few feet of her.

Thankfully, each one was dying in a single shot, and exploding into tiny lava splashes, one of which almost hit her boot. Then she dropped her pistols, and caught her sub machine guns as they fell out of the air. She ejected the mags, and then twisted her guns as the new mags fell so that they fell directly into the guns. That done, she lifted the guns and fired, making swift work of the rest of the tiny demons.

Then the main demon roared in rage as the stinger was cut off by the two half demons. Their work done, they jumped back into their positions. While Vergil once again distracted the demon, Dante moved in to slash the demon's back end open, only for his sword to practically bounce off of it, doing little damage. He could continue to slash, but he'd be wasting his time. Then he had a wild idea. He looked over at Lady, who was quickly picking up her pistols.

"Lady! I need a missile!"

She looked over, having no idea what he was thinking. But she didn't hesitate, and picked up her missile launcher, firing a rocket at Dante. He waited, and jumped at the last second, hopping on top like it was a surfboard.

"WOOOOO!" He yelled out in exhilaration as he twisted and redirected the course of the missile so it was above the demon. Then he kicked off, pointing the missile down as he leaped up into the air.

The missile came down, impacting directly where the stinger had been, and where there was now a hole in his rocky armor. The demon stumbled, yelling in pain. Then Dante came down, driving his sword directly into the same spot, and the roars of pain only increased.

Dante twisted the blade, and ripped it through the demon's back, dealing serious damage as he ripped it out and ducked out of the way of the demon's lava blood. The demon's legs slipped, and it fell on its belly, screaming in pain.

He leaped off of the demon, landing next to Vergil. Lady ran over next to them, still holding the missile launcher.

"Let's finish this." Vergil said. He and Dante shared a glance, and then blue and red energy, respectively, exploded off of them both as they shifted into their demonic forms.

"Can you get him to open that big, ugly mouth of his?" Dante asked Lady, his voice now distorted. Lady nodded, and shifted the rocket launcher so it sat on her shoulder. She flicked a newly installed switch, and a small scope popped out. Not one meant for magnification, but rather to confirm what she was locking onto as she used the newest feature of her weapon.

She saw all the targets plant themselves on the demon's face, and pulled the trigger. 10 missiles rapidly shot out of the rocket launcher, each in turn impacting the demon's face, causing it to fall midway through standing up and open its mouth to scream again. Dante was ready, and slid toward the demon, sword extended point first and with red energy arcing behind it. He aimed directly at the demon's open mouth and impacted, dealing another serious blow.

Then he saw Lady's bayonet fire out next to him, and grabbed it, getting yanked away as Vergil finished preparing his own blow. Then Vergil vanished, moving too fast to be seen as he slashed the demon a hundred times in a split second, each slash aimed exactly along one of the open parts of the demon's rock skin. He reappeared, and slowly sheathed his weapon.

The demon started to turn black, and slowly started to break into a million pieces as it faded away.

"Is this….the power of Sparda?" He muttered as he died. "How could I have hoped to…master...I'm sorry…"

Then he vanished for good. There was a long pause as Dante and Vergil shifted back to their human forms and Lady wiped the sweat from her face. Then they looked at each other. Dante grinned, and was the first to raise his hand up for a hi five. Lady and Vergil glanced at each other, shrugged, and lifted their hands, all three hi fiving each other at the same time.

"Make the devils cry!" Dante yelled as he hi fived the others. They gave him a exasperated look.

"Are you  _still_ trying to make that a thing?" Lady asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh come on, we can make it our post battle cry!"

"No!" Both Lady and Vergil yelled at the same time. Dante sighed.

"Fine, whatever. So…we're done here, right?"

They looked around the now empty room.

"I don't believe these people will be bothering us again." Vergil stated.

As one, they turned and walked out of the room.

* * *

A few minutes after they left, the same woman who had been tracking the demon hunting trio slowly walked into the large room that had served as the arena for their fight. She had been suitably impressed by what she had seen. Until that moment, she wasn't quite sure why Mundus saw these two as enough of a threat to specifically target prior to his return. Now she saw why.

She wasn't surprised the humans had, in the end, failed, Mundus hadn't had high expectations in the first place. But not all had gone as expected, most notably the fact that there had been a third member of their team. A human. She hadn't been mentioned in any of her instructions. That meant one of two things. Mundus was unaware she existed, or he counted her as irrelevant to his plans to the point of ignoring her.

This posed a minor problem for her. What to do about it. The human had seemed close to one of the brothers. She figured she could take the human and use her as bait, lure them in that way, maybe throw them off balance. But that would be a serious deviation from plans, something Mundus was unlikely to be happy about.

Besides which, if she was being honest, she was intrigued by this human, this Lady, even if she couldn't put her finger on why. What Mundus didn't know wouldn't hurt, him, particularly not some random human. It would be too much of a risk to do anything major in regards to her now, she'd already had a couple of close misses at being spotted, and if the brothers were tipped off too soon, the whole plan could go up in smoke. But once it was all said and done, she'd have some free time to play with this human.

But business came before pleasure. She was going to have to wait for some time, after the attack on their office and everything else, they'd be too on guard for the plan to work. She'd have to give them time to settle back into routine, think the threat had passed, preferably wait for the woman to be unavailable. But soon enough, the time would come for her to make her move.

_Next time, the brothers and Trish meet for the first time. And I have plans to introduce other cast members, sooner rather then later._


	20. An Electrifying Encounter

Dante was sitting in his usual position inside the rebuilt Devil May Cry office, feet up on the desk and eating a slice of pizza. He yawned, checking the clock. Almost midnight. He was going to have to go to bed soon, but he needed to wait for Vergil.

The door opened as he reached for another slice, and Vergil entered, looking unhappy. Well, more so then usual. Dante held out a slice of pizza to Vergil as he locked the door, and he wordlessly took it.

"Well? How it'd go?" Dante asked.

"She's gone. Still wouldn't tell me where she was going, even when I dropped her off at the airport." Vergil shook his head. "I don't understand why she can't even tell me where she wanted to go on vacation to. Or why I couldn't go with her."

Vergil took a bite of his pizza as Dante shrugged. "You miss her?"

Vergil nodded. "I don't think I realized until I dropped her off, but…I haven't been away from her for any extended period since the day I met her."

"Well, maybe that's why she wanted to go solo." Dante said as he waved his own half eaten slice at Vergil. "Lord knows she's bitched a few times about being surrounded by "Too much testosterone" before. Maybe she want some, I don't know, girl time?"

Dante shrugged again as Vergil sighed. "Perhaps." He said, still not sounding satisfied.

"Look, bro. It's only ten days, right? If it bothers you that much, maybe we can set up some kind of a surprise for when she gets back." Vergil put his hand to his chin, considering this as Dante continued. "Tomorrow, you and I will go out, figure out what you wanna do, set shit up, and-"

There was a knock at the door. Dante looked at Vergil, who shook his head.

"Sorry! We're closed!" Dante yelled at the door. "Come back tomorrow!" Dante turned back to Vergil. "So, let's do some brainstorming, what do you want to-"

Then the front doors exploded into fragments as a blonde haired woman smashed through it, driving a motorcycle and coming to a halt in the middle of the room.

"Woh!" Dante yelled. "Hey, if you had to take a leak that badly, you should had just said so. Toilet's in the back. Help yourself."

Vergil, meanwhile, looked like he was trying to kill the woman with his glare alone, his fingers starting to go white just from how hard he was gripping his sword. "I  _just_ had that door fixed!"

The woman, for her part, slowly dismounted the bike, which they could now see happened to actually be Lady's bike, somehow hotwired by the woman. She glanced at each of them as she adjusted her black sunglasses.

"So. This is Devil May Cry?" She asked as she looked around. "Run by the Sons of Sparda? Two brothers, who lost a mother to the demons, 20 years ago?"

The two looked at each other, and then stood up at the same time.

"Do you know what I did to the last person who knew about our personal family business?" Vergil asked as he slowly strode toward the woman.

"It wasn't pretty." Dante added as he reached and grabbed his own sword.

She didn't respond, just staring at the two as they walked up, both pointing swords so they were hovering an inch from her face.

"But it ain't often we meet someone new who happens to know everything about us." Dante said, any amusement on his face gone. "How about we have a chat?"

"I'd prefer not to have to clean your blood out of my new carpet." Vergil said, clearly restraining himself. "I suggest you start talking."

She sighed. "Fine then."

She reached up quickly and grabbed both swords, one with each hand. Her hands started to glow as she channeled electricity through them, and both of the brothers screamed as the electricity went through their swords and hit them.

"I guess we'll have a test first. See if you're up to the task."

She shoved the swords into the air as she dropped into a crouch, sweeping her leg forward and kicking the legs of both of the brothers out from under them in one motion. As they started to fall, she jumped and delivered a spinning kick in midair, one that impacted both of them and sent them flying into the wall.

The force of the kick had sent Dante's sword flying out of his hand, and she caught it, held it for a second as she electrified it. Then she twisted the blade, and threw it directly at Dante's chest, impaling him to the wall and causing him to yell in pain even more. She turned to Vergil as he got up on one knee, and extended her hand, firing electricity directly out of it and hitting Vergil directly.

"Is that all!?" She yelled as she took a step backwards toward the motorcycle. "This is what the bloodline of the legendary Sparda has been reduced to!?"

She delivered a hard kick to the motorcycle, and sent it flying toward Vergil. Then she turned and reached for one of the guns on the wall. While her back was turned, Vergil swung his sword sheath, impacting the bike and bringing it to a halt, then immediately followed up by cutting it in half before swinging the sheath again, sending both halves flying back.

The woman turned to point the gun at Dante, only to see the motorcycle flying right at her. Gasping in surprise, she leaped to the side and hit the floor. Then she looked up, only to see Vergil teleporting directly in front of her. As he did that, Dante pulled himself to his feet, not even looking mildly inconvenienced by the sword that was so far in his chest that the point was sticking out of his back.

"Is this what passes for a murder attempt in the underworld nowadays?" Vergil asked as he spat a bit of blood out of his mouth. "Pathetic."

Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet, holding her hands up in the air. "Wait. I'm not your enemy."

Dante laughed as he ripped the sword out of his chest. "Throwing a sword through a dude's chest is a funny way to say hello."

She reached up and pulled her sunglasses off, revealing her face in full, one that happened to be an identical match for their dead mother. Dante's jaw dropped, and Vergil's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his head.

"My name is Trish." She said as she looked at each of them. "And I need your help."

* * *

A few minutes passed, and Dante was now sitting behind the desk, feet back up on it. Trish was sitting in a chair in front of it. Vergil, meanwhile, had elected to remain standing, and leaned against a wall with his arms crossed. His eyes had not left Trish since she told them her name, and he was angrier then Dante had seen him in a  _long_ time.

"Are you familiar with the name Mundus?" Trish asked. Both of the brothers nodded.

"That's the name of the demon who that dumbass cult worshiped, right?" Dante asked, looking at Vergil.

"Correct." Vergil confirmed with a nod. "One of Sparda's more notable enemies, and one of the few he was unable to kill outright. He was sealed away by Sparda 2000 years ago, during his war against the demon realm."

"Not anymore." Trish said, leaning back in her chair. "20 years ago, Mundus resurrected. His first act, when he returned, was to try to find Sparda again, and get his revenge. Of course, Sparda had already vanished from the world by then, and no one knew where he went. So he had to get a little…creative. Strike at his bloodline."

Vergil felt his blood suddenly run cold, and he and Dante shared a glance before Vergil spoke. "You don't mean to say…."

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Trish said, nodding. "He's the one who send those demons at you. He's the one directly responsible for your mother's death."

There was a long, tense moment of silence.

"What's this going to cost us?" Dante asked. "What's your game?"

"I told you. I need your help. I want you to kill Mundus."

Vergil slowly stepped forward until he was standing directly in front of Trish, who didn't react. "And he is where?"

"Mallet Island. I want you two to go there, and do what you do best. No more, no less."

Vergil suddenly reached down and grabbed Trish by her throat. Dante stood and watched, deciding not to interfere.

"I don't trust you. You, who  _dares_ to use  _her_ face."

"I didn't pick it." Trish said, shrugging the best she could.

"You're asking us to walk into a trap. Do you think us fools?"

"Trap?" Trish raised her eyebrow. "If it was a trap, I'd have just hired you for a normal job and let Mundus jump you. I'm being about as honest with you as I can, given the circumstances."

Dante nodded as he understood the situation. "He's calling us out."

"That's right." Trish said. "Think of me as the messenger. Nothing more."

Vergil tilted his head, clearly unsure. Trish noticed this, and looked at him.

"Look, think whatever you want about me, but the fact is, Mundus has been waiting 2000 years for his revenge. He  _is_ there, and he's waiting for you."

"And if we refuse?" Vergil asked through gritted teeth, hand still around her throat.

"Then I have to give you some motivation. It's not how I like to operate. But I have a job to do, so if you don't go, I'll have to find that woman you hang around with. Lady, was it?" She shrugged. "I went out of my way to keep her out of this, waited until she left the city. But force my hand, and I'll have to kidnap her and hold her hostage to make you go."

"Then you  _die_ here." Vergil tightened his grip on her throat.

"Mundus doesn't know about her..." Trish said as she gasped for breath. "…but if you kill me, the next one he sends will find out and report it…."

Dante stepped forward and put his hand on Vergil's shoulder. "Bro. Relax." Vergil closed his eyes, took a breath, and let go of Trish. She grabbed her throat for a second and rolled her neck.

"I have a lot more, shall we say, tact then Mundus does. He sends someone else, it'll be with orders to kill her, both as an attack against you and to make you angry enough to go to him." Vergil's fist clenched as Trish continued. "All you need to do is go, and I won't say a word about her to him."

He didn't respond, and after a few seconds, she reached into her cleavage and took out two plane tickets.

"I'll give you two days to make up your mind." She stood up, and no one made a move to stop her. "See you there."

She stepped around the wreckage of the bike and exited through the hole that now stood where their door once was.

"So…." Dante scratched the back of his head as he spoke. "What's our play? We call Lady, give her a warning?"

Vergil shook his head. "No. We call her, she'll want to drop everything and come back. Let her enjoy her vacation, she deserves it. Besides…"

"You don't want her involved. Do you?"

Vergil shook his head no. "I have all the confidence in the world in her skills. But something like Mundus is beyond the ability of any human to fight."

"And this is our family business." Dante added. "Not hers."

"She'll be angry, probably, but she'll understand." Vergil agreed with a nod. "Keep your guard up around this "Trish". I still don't trust her."

Dante nodded, and started walking toward the door until Vergil held his hand in front of Dante.

"One moment." He walked over to a bookshelf and pulled out one specific book. The shelf shifted to the side, revealing a small hole, in which sat a plain looking sword.

"So. That's where you've been keeping it " Dante said, nodding in approval. "Classic."

"I do indulge now and again." Vergil said with a grin.

"Think we're gonna need that?"

Vergil reached in and grabbed it. "Possibly. We'll know when the time is right."

Dante nodded, and the two left the building.

* * *

Lady took her seat inside the plane, sighing and doing her best to try and relax. She heard a beep on her phone, and checked it to see a text message from Nico.

"Under the seat."

Frowning, she looked under it, and saw a small glasses case taped to the bottom. She took it off picked it up, and opened it to find a nice, fancy looking pair of yellow sunglasses. She admired them for a moment.

"I like these. Good taste, Nico." She put them on, nodding. Then she saw static in the lens. She frowned again, and then a video screen appeared.

"Good Evening, Ms Lady." Nico's voice said through some hidden speaker in the glasses that only she could hear. A picture of a large, black haired man with a monocle appeared. "The man before you is Agnus-"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on a second!" Lady said out loud, annoyed. "You said you were going to explain everything, why you need me and only me for a job, why Dante and Vergil couldn't show up, why I had to leave Kalina at home. I was expecting a phone call, not...where the hell did you even get these?"

The picture vanished, replaced by Nico sitting in a chair somewhere in her messy shop, who looked slightly annoyed.

"Lady, you're not supposed to interrupt the mission briefing! Haven't you ever seen any of the Mission Impossible movies before?"

"Nico, you  _know_ I don't spend a lot of time watching movies." Lady said in a scolding tone. Nico shook her head sadly.

"Girl, you gotta get a TV or some shit in that shop. You got no idea what kind of shit you're missing out on!"

It was Lady's turn to shake her head. "Am I even going on vacation at all? You said not to worry about that."

"It's in the briefing! You'd already know most of this if you didn't interrupt me! What kind of sorry excuse of a secret agent interrupts their handler? I'm trying to have some fun with this, work with me!"

Lady rolled her eyes, but couldn't help herself as she smirked in amusement. "Fine, fine."

"Good. Now then." The screen flicked back to the previous image. "Agnus. A man I've been hunting for a while. I've mentioned my mom a few times, but never my daddy. This jackass is the guy, walked out on me and my mom and never looked back. I never knew him. Doesn't mean I didn't wanna sock him in the face. You can relate."

Lady squirmed uncomfortably in her seat at that comment as Nico continued. "Anyway, I've managed to find him." The screen shifted to a map of the world, one that zoomed in on a tiny island. "This is Fortuna, some random island nation in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, one of them weird ass places that has almost no contact with the outside world. Literally everyone on this island is a member of what's called the "Order of the Sword", a cult that worships Sparda like he's a god or some shit."

Lady nodded. She'd heard the name once or twice during her younger years when she was chasing her father down. Nico continued.

"So that's why Dante and Vergil can't come, they'd stand out too much, and I think everyone might die of a heart attack if someone finds out one of Sparda's sons paid their random island a visit. And you, girl, you're gonna have to blend in, that's why you ain't got Kalina. Up in the baggage above you, you'll find a large duffel bag with clothing you're gonna wanna get changed into between the plane and the raft you're gonna have to take to get to this place. Also got some files, maps and shit, might help you out."

"Still haven't told me what I'm doing." Lady muttered.

"I'm getting to that!" The picture shifted to a large castle. "Somewhere in this big ass castle, I have reason to believe he's got a lab. And this ain't your average lab. Because I'm hearing rumors that he's experimenting with demons." Lady's eyebrows went up. "That got your attention? I don't know what he's doing, and that's what I wanna find out."

"Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to sneak inside, find the lab, and take pictures of whatever you can find in there. Equipment, files, whatever. Your glasses have a camera, I'll be able to see everything you see, and I'll be recording it. But I need a super tough, super smart, super badass girl with a fine ass to get in there so I can do that."

"Flattery will get you a lot of places, Nico." Lady said with a smirk. "But it won't get you out of paying me."

"You'll be getting a week's vacation in the Bahama's, all expenses paid by your bestest friend and the smartest person you know. Just think of this as a stop on the way. If you are caught and killed, I will disavow any knowledge of your actions."

"Wait, what?" Lady blinked in surprise, not expecting that line.

"You don't think I'm going to tell Vergil I got you killed, didn't I?" Nico asked. She waited a moment as Lady crossed her arms. "Oh, relax, you hunt  _demons_ for a living, I think you can take a few dudes with swords if push comes to shove."

Nico cleared her throat. "This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds."

"What."

"5...4...321 BOOM!" Nico yelled loudly as the screen shifted back to her, waving her hands all over the place. "Now you really are a smoking hot Lady, because you didn't take the glasses off and you've been cooked by an explosion!"

"Very funny, Nico." Lady said as she shook her head and chuckled. "I'll contact you once I've gotten to this Fortuna place. I'm taking a nap until we land." She took the glasses off, put them in one of her pouches, and leaned back, closing her eyes.


	21. New Blood

_One of the unfortunate side effects of introducing Nero to the story that I want to take a second to address is that, yes, I am now officially playing fast and loose with the timeline. Realistically, Nero probably shouldn't be appearing for quite some time, and while I've reduced his age a bit to try to mitigate the blow, I realize that will only help so much._

_I suppose I could have just said "It's 10 years later" or something to that effect but I didn't want to just skip over that much time, and yet at the same time I had a LOT of people who clearly wanted to see Nero enter the story and what his impact would be sooner or later, so my options were limited. I apologize to anyone who's enjoyment of the story is lowered by that. In a bit of anticipation of things like this, I went out of my way not to mention ages anywhere in this story, so if it's bothering anyone out there that much, I suppose just imagine that the main trio were older than they actually were at the start of DMC 3 and that the whole thing with Vergil happened much earlier than DMC 3?_

_Again, my apologies for the weirdness. Back to the regularly scheduled chapter._

* * *

The clash of swords shattered the silence of the early morning. In the backyard of a house in Fortuna, two people were in the middle of what looked to be a heated fight. One was a man in a crisp, clean white uniform with brown, combed back hair and a groomed goatee.

"Focus, Nero!" He shouted as he swung his sword at a boy that didn't look to be out of his late teenage years yet. He was the complete opposite of the other man, with unkempt white hair and a messy looking blue coat with a hood on. The boy, Nero, held his sword in front of him with one hand, blocking the two handed blow from the stern looking man. His other hand was covered in a large glove that extended down the length of his arm, and he was notably avoiding the use of it.

"What is it you always say, Credo?" Nero asked as he stepped forward and swung his sword diagonally at him. "If you got time to talk, you got time to work?"

Credo twisted his blade, deflecting Nero's sword into the ground with his own sword. As he did that, he stepped forward, and swung with his empty hand, attempting to backhand Nero with his fist. Nero hopped backward, narrowly avoiding the fist.

"Cease playing around!" Credo yelled. "Fight as if your life depended on it!"

Nero shook his head. "I don't want to hurt you, Credo."

Credo snorted. "If you wish to stop being treated like a boy, then stop acting like one! Come!"

Credo charged at Nero, and the two swordsmen clashed swords a few times, sparks flying off as they clashed. Then, Nero delivered an unexpected kick to Credo's chest, driving him back a few feet. He slid to a stop and quickly rose, only to see Nero sliding toward him, sword held horizontally in front of him at about chest level. As he reached Credo, he delivered a wide slash with his blade. Credo, rather than blocking it, choose instead to duck under the blade, allowing it to swing wide and leave an opening.

"You overextended!" Credo yelled as he sprang up, intending to swing until his blade was against Nero's throat and bring the fight to a close. Before he got there, however, Nero delivered another kick, this time right between his legs. The air left Credo as he grunted in pain, staggering backward.

"Still had a weapon." Nero said with a shrug.

"A cheap shot!" Credo yelled, clearly furious.

"Ain't no such thing as cheating in a  _real_ fight. That's what you asked for, right?"

Then Nero leaped several feet into the air, and fell, bringing his sword down vertically in a motion that would cleave Credo in two if it hit. Credo ducked out of the way at the last moment, and then swung his sword at Nero's chest. Nero ripped his sword out of the ground and moved it to collide with Credo's.

Both swords locked against each other. Credo moved his other hand and took a two handed stance as he pushed against Nero. Nero, for his part, was actually trying to not push  _too_ hard. If he managed to shove Credo 20 feet away with one hand against his two, Credo would start asking questions. Questions he wasn't prepared to answer.

"Credo! Nero!"

A voice interrupted his thoughts, and both of them turned their heads to see a brown haired girl who had white priestess looking robes on, ones that were in the same style as Credo's outfit, sticking her head out the door.

"Breakfast is ready! Come and eat!"

After a moments pause, the two wordlessly broke the lock, and sheathed their swords.

"We will continue this later." Credo said as he walked back inside. Nero took a second to roll his eyes before he followed.

* * *

A few minutes later, the three of them were sitting at a round table in a small, cozy dining room. A stack of fresh pancakes and sausage were on the table, and each of them were eating.

"The food's good, Kyrie." Nero said to the girl. "Tastes a little different today. You put something new in?"

"Cinnamon." Kirie said with a smile. "Really brings out the flavor, I think."

"Won't hear any argument from me."

Credo finished chewing what was in his mouth. "You still need work, Nero."

Nero sighed and put down his fork, placing his elbow on the table and resting his head in his hand. "Here we go."

"Your technique is sloppy." Credo continued, heedless of Nero's reaction. "You swing that sword around like it's a club. No finesse, no stance, no plan, you just make it up as you go."

"That's called winging it. " Nero said as he pointed at Credo. "It's a valid "Technique.""

"You place no regard for your safety, leave openings that a wise enemy can exploit." Credo continued, glaring at Nero.

"When's the last time you heard of a wise demon?" Nero said as he pulled out his cell phone and checked something on it.

"And don't get me  _started_ on the backtalk." Credo said as he shook his head. "Your style is a disgrace. You fight more like a thug then a swordsman."

"You done?" Nero asked, not looking up from the phone. Credo sighed.

" _However,_ I cannot deny you have made great strides toward improvement since your training began." Credo said, clearly with great reluctance. "And so, as promised, I will see if I can arrange for you to be appointed to the combat regiment of the Order of the Sword."

"Finally!" Nero said as he looked up at the ceiling, causing Credo to instantly wag his finger at him.

"I can guarantee nothing. It is highly unusual for anyone to be appointed at such a young age. I will need to speak with some people, pull some strings. And that means you'll be under even more scrutiny then the usual recruit."

" _Great_." Nero groaned.

"If you are appointed, you will be under  _my_ command. And I will not tolerate the attitude you display in this house when we are in the field. Any disrespect  _will_ be punished severely. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." Nero said as he gave a lazy salute.

"Do not come into this thinking this will all be fun and games."

"No. I came into this thinking "Hey, I already have to deal with Credo every day, now I can do it while I get paid to shoot demons.""

Credo shook his head in annoyance. Kirie spoke up.

"Nero, please, I know you've been working very hard, but still, be carful, ok? And that goes for you too, Credo."

"Don't worry about me." Nero said, waving off her concerns with a wave of his hand.

"I assure you, sister,  _I_  will not be the one who needs watching." Nero rolled his eyes at this. Credo paused a second before he continued. "I also noticed you're still not using your left arm much." His voice shifted from annoyance to restrained concern. "The injury you sustained from that demon should have finished healing long ago. Are you still having problems using it?"

Nero's eyes widened a second before he tried to lean back and wave off his concerns. "No, no, it's fine."

"Are you sure?" Credo said, not looking convinced. "I can have a medic look at your arm, if you wish, make sure there haven't been any side effects-"

"No!" Nero yelled quickly. "No need for that. I, erm, I'm experimenting."

Credo gave him a hard stare. "Experimenting." He repeated evenly.

"Right. I, that injury, it made me realize, there might be times when, if I get injured again, I might not have free use of both hands. So, I figured, maybe I should try to learn to fight with one hand."

Credo continued to stare at him a moment, expression unreadable. Then he sighed. "I suppose it's hardly the worst idea you've had." Nero's sholders slumped down in relief. "But an unused hand is a hand wasted. If you're not going to touch your sword with it, you should use it for  _something._ A shield, perhaps, to help actually defend yourself against a repeat incident?"

"I'm good, that's not really my style." Nero said as he held up his hand. Besides which, he was pretty sure the arm itself was harder than any shield he'd find. He'd tried to chop the cursed thing off plenty of times, and hadn't even left a dent, even when his strength level started getting stupidly high. Nero sighed as the conversation trailed off, leaning back.

"So, how long I gotta wait?" He asked, waving his hand over at Credo as Kirie got up and returned to the kitchen.

"Today the Order is having a general meeting at Castle Fortuna. You will accompany me, and there I will speak with those who need to be spoken to."

Nero sighed. "Can't I just wait at home and you tell me what they say when you get back? You know I  _hate_ these stuffy, official events."

Credo shook his head sternly, clearly not about to budge. "You had best get used to attending functions. There will be no skipping out of them once you are under my command. You are going."

He got up from the table and adjusted his collar before stomping away, but not before making one last statement. "We leave in 5 minutes. Be ready."

* * *

There was a slow trickle of people walking across the bridge into the Castle Fortuna as Nero and Credo arrived. Credo was a few steps ahead of Nero, and started talking.

"As you know, long ago, the legendary Sparda once served as feudal lord of our nation. It is from him that we received our calling, our name. And this place once served as his castle. It has been carefully preserved over the years, and used for our order for our larger gatherings. It is as much a landmark as it is a building. You can even still view Sparda's bedroom, which our historians have worked hard over the years to keep in the same condition it was left in, should the time ever come when Sparda returns to our nation."

He waited a few seconds for the smartass retort, and when none came, he turned around.

" _Nero_."

Nero wasn't even looking at him, and Credo reached over and ripped the earbuds he had in his ears, hidden by his hair, out of his ears.

"Hey!" Nero complained. "It was just getting to the good part!"

"This  _trash_ you continue to insist on listening to is rotting your brain, Nero!" Credo yelled as he shook the fist he was holding the earbuds in. "It is time to grow up!" He turned and threw the earbuds over the edge of the bridge.

"Oh, come on!" Nero yelled, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Be glad I will need to be able to contact you at all, or I'd throw your cell phone off the bridge with them!"

Nero crossed his arms, sulking. Credo shook his head.

"Now, I am afraid I have duties that require me to be elsewhere while the initial parts of this meeting are in progress. So, find a seat inside, sit quietly, and whatever you do, do  _not_ embarrass me with your attitude. Remember, I'm going out of my way to recommend they take you on in a higher position. Your actions, good or bad, will reflect back onto me."

"I got it, I got it." Nero said, clearly still angry. "Go on, be the big hot shot of the Order. I'll sit down here with all the peasants."

"You  _know_ that's not what I-"

He stopped himself, shook his head, and then turned around, walking away.

* * *

A little behind them, Lady was walking onto the bridge, doing her best to mind her own business and not make eye contact with anyone. She had gotten changed into the traditional robed vestments of the Order, which conveniently concealed all of her guns as well. She had the hood up, and while she was confident this meeting was big enough to where no one would look at her and instantly know she wasn't a member, she wasn't looking to take her chances. She was about halfway across when suddenly, she heard yelling.

"Goddamned jackass!"

She looked over to her right, and halted in her tracks as she saw a white haired kid kicking one of the walls of the bridge, knocking a few stones loose. Someone just behind her bumped into her, but she didn't even notice as said man walked around her and gave her an annoyed look. She was too busy staring at the kid who was reminding her far too much of another white haired man she happened to know. He seemed to sense someone was staring at him, as he looked directly at her.

"What the hell are you looking at?" He asked. She just continued to stare, and he scoffed. "Mind your own business." Nero stomped off, and slowly, she shook off her shock and regained her senses. Slowly, she resumed her walk, her mind now confused and filled with questions.

_Could it just be a coincidence? That he happens to look so much like Dante, if you changed the color of his coat? Could he be related to him? Maybe even...I could see Dante being the type to have a one night stand and not realize he had a kid, in the past, but would that kid end up here, on some island in the middle of nowhere that's closed to the outside world? This isn't the kind of place Dante would ever willingly go to. Maybe he's a younger brother? Could Sparda have had another kid, unknown to them? Or am I just overthinking all of this?_

With her mind having reached no satisfactory answers, she stepped through the open door and into the castle.


	22. The Black Sheep

Nero sat inside of the grand hall of the castle, which was built like a low budget chapel, with chairs set up on each side and a large rectangular coffin looking thing between them. Up above, on the balcony, the leader of the Order of the Sword, an old man in elaborate robes, was giving a sermon. Credo stood next to him, as still as a statue as he stood guard over the ceremony.

"-and we give thanks to Sparda, for his efforts, for his sacrifice. Without him, our world would surely have fallen to darkness long ago. And so, let us bow our heads, and say a prayer…"

Nero sighed, leaning to the side of his chair with his head resting in his hand. He was clearly bored out of his mind, and didn't bother lowering his head with the rest. He was easily the youngest person in the room, and got a few glances when he had first came in, but now everyone was busy kissing Sparda's ass.

At least, that's what he had thought. But then he got that funny feeling of being watched again. He quickly turned around, and found himself staring at some hooded woman a few rows behind him. She didn't have her head bowed, and he got a nice look at her face, as well as her eyes, one blue and one red. Said eyes went wide as she realized she had been spotted, and she quickly bowed her head. Nero kept looking over at her for a moment. Up on the balcony, the old man continued to speak.

"And now, let us break for a quick recess."

Around him, people started to get up. Nero rose as well, stretching his legs. He was still looking over at the woman who had been staring at him as she rose and started to quickly turn around.

"Hey!" He yelled at her, causing her to very suddenly halt and wince. "Hold up a minute!" He stomped over to her, and she slowly turned, keeping her head down.

"You got a problem with me?" Nero asked.

"No, not at all." Lady stammered, clearly flustered and unsure of herself. "I-"

"Then why the hell are you staring at me?" Nero demanded as he shook his head.

"I just….you looked like someone I knew, and I thought you were them. I was mistaken, and I apologize." Her head bowed lower, and Nero sighed, scratching his head.

"It's fine." He said, waving it off. "Sorry, I got a bit aggressive, I guess. Haven't had a good day. Start over?" He extended his hand. "Name's Nero."

Lady hesitated for only a second before she took the handshake and looked up at him. "Mary."

"Mary? Alright, good to meet you, I guess."

There was an awkward pause as Lady tried to figure out what to say and how to approach this.

"Kind of young to be at a meeting for this kind of thing, aren't you?" She asked after a few moments. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I guess they figure if I can survive the sermon without dying of boredom, I can survive a demon or two." Nero said with a shrug. Lady chuckled.

"Not a fan of Sparda?" She asked. Once again, he shrugged.

"Look, I'm sure Sparda was cool and all, but do I really have to hear old people talk about it every damn week? They just repeat the same shit over and over and over again."

"Well, you know old people." Lady said, smiling. "They have terrible memory, so they have to keep reminding themselves of things they should know." That got a chuckle out of Nero.

"So." Nero said. "You're with the holy knights too? Smite demons and all that?"

"That's right." She said, nodding. "I've killed my fair share." Nero nodded.

"So, stupid question, but where's your sword then?"

"My what?" Lady asked in genuine confusion.

"Your  _sword._ " Nero insisted. "You work for an organization called the Order of the Sword. You don't think you should probably bring your sword to the club meetings?"

"Oh!" Lady's eyes went wide as she realized her mistake. "Well, I-"

"And come to think of it-" Nero said, cutting her off. "-who the hell  _did_ you think I was, anyway? Last time I checked, there aren't a lot of white haired people that aren't old men running around the island."

"I, erm….well…."

"Nero!"

Lady was saved from having to respond as Credo, who was standing over by the front of the room, next to the old man who was giving the sermon. He lifted his hand and waved Nero over, causing Nero to groan.

"Don't let me keep you." Lady said as she took a step backwards. "Sorry again." Then she turned and walked out of the room, just a  _little_ too eager to get out. He stared after her for a second, then shook his head.

"Weirdo." He muttered as he turned and walked over to where Credo was standing, hands shoved into his pockets.

"Nero." Credo said, doing his best to ignore Nero's attitude. "You of course already know our leader, His Holiness. It was his wish to speak with you."

"Yo." Nero said, giving the most casual wave possible to the man. One could almost see the steam coming out of Credo's nose.

"Show respect to His Holiness!" Credo yelled. Then, the man put a hand on Credo's shoulder.

"Now, now, restrain yourself, it is quite alright." He said as he turned to Nero. "So, young man, I have heard quite a bit about you, both from Credo and others. And I am told that it is your wish to join the Holy Knights. Quite an ambitious request for such a young man. Might I ask why?"

Nero shrugged. "Well, you know, want to follow in Sparda's footsteps, kill some demons, do some good in the world, that kind of thing."

Credo's gaze narrowed as Nero fed the leader of the Order a load of bullshit, not that their leader seemed to notice.

"An admirable goal in any young man." He said, nodding in approval. "Yet, I have concerns. I'm not confident that someone of your...shall we say, temperament, will respond well to the strict demands of the Holy Knights. It's a very strict, regimented order, and they do not respond well to deviance. Beyond that, I am told you do not tend to work well with others, and in such a role, that would be quite unavoidable."

Credo turned to face His Holiness directly. "That is part of what I wish to work on. It is my belief, sir, that such an environment will help improve his attitude and temperament."

His Holiness shook his head. "I am not as convinced. And I cannot afford for your attention to be diverted at such a crucial stage, Credo."

Nero snorted. "Figures. I knew this was a waste of time." Nero turned around, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm going home."

"Nero!" Credo yelled.

"Now, hold on one moment." His Holiness said. Nero paused. "I didn't say I wouldn't grant you an appointment. All I meant was that you are a…special case. And thus, in need of special treatment."

Nero turned back around, crossing his arms. "I'm listening."

"Simply put, I believe that a traditional chain of command is not the ideal environment for you. And so, you will be given...let us say, special cases. Tasks which you will be assigned and expected to complete alone, with a minimum of supervision."

Credo turned toward His Holiness, eyebrow raised. "What?"

"In this way-" He continued. "-you will be allowed to excel and contribute, while not causing any problems for our main forces."

Despite the insult implied in that, Nero was nodding, appearing to be pleased with this arrangement. "Works for me."

"Sir!" Credo said. "I must object to this! You cannot send him into the field alone, with no backup! Just because he has an attitude problem does not mean he warrants special treatment! I-"

"We are already giving special treatment just to allow him to join." His Holiness said, turning toward Credo. "The decision is made, Credo. And I will hear no more discussion of it. It is the wish of His Holiness."

Credo took a deep, angry breath, his hand gripping his sword hard enough that his fingers were turning white. His Holiness took no notice of this.

"You will start tomorrow, Nero. Good luck to you."

He turned and walked away, and for a brief moment, Nero was wondering if Credo was going to snap and try to stab the man in the back. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and appeared to calm down.

"What, pissy you're not going to get to run me through boot camp?" Nero asked him. Credo turned toward Nero, clearly angry.

"You don't realize what's going on, do you? Why he did what he just-"

"Oh, I get it " Nero said, cutting Credo off. "I'm a problem. An annoyance. Always have been. So he's going to give me all the super dangerous jobs, and hope I'm stupid enough to get killed. Win/win for them. I die, they don't have to deal with me anymore. I pull them off, and they save manpower and the job gets done anyway."

Credo's expression softened a bit. "It's too late for me to change his mind, but there are still things I can do. People I can talk to. If that fails, you can just fail to show up. No one would be surprised, and-"

"It's fine." Nero said, casually waving off his concerns. "I'm used to being the black sheep. I can handle it."

Credo sighed, seeing he wasn't going to talk Nero out of this. "Just  _be careful_."

At that moment, a member of the Order walked up and quietly whispered in Credo's ear. Credo's eyes went wide for a moment, and once the message was delivered, he walked away.

"What's wrong? Hot date cancel on you?" Nero asked. Credo gave him an annoyed look, and took him by the shoulder, stepping away from the main crowd.

"We may have an intruder."

Nero laughed. "An intruder?"

"Yes. An Outsider. Scouts found signs of activity on the beach not long ago."

"Wow. I could see someone wanting to get  _off_ of this boring ass rock, but someone wanting to sneak  _on_? That's a new one."

"This is  _serious,_ Nero!" Credo hissed. "The intruder could be anywhere on the island at this point!"

Nero nodded, his joking mood vanishing. "So what do you want us to do?"

" _You_ will not be doing anything." Credo said as he wagged a finger in Nero's face. "Allow me to deal with this. You just keep an eye out. If you spy any suspicious characters, you report it at once, and let me apprehend them."

Credo walked off, back into the main crowd. Nero took a look toward the door that Lady had rushed through.

"Suspicious characters, eh?"

He started walking toward it.

_And you think I'm going to just report it and let you take all the credit, Credo? I don't think so. I don't like hurting women, but if it comes down to it, I can take some random chick in a fight._

Nero walked through the door and left the room.


	23. A Mysterious Box

It wasn't easy for Nero to track the woman. The hallways outside of the room were wide open, and there was no easy way to tell what direction she had gone in. It had already been a couple of minutes since she left, and for a minute, Nero wasn't sure he was going to be able to figure out where she went. Then, as he continued to slowly walk down the hallway, he thought he heard a voice from behind a closed door. He paused, and put his ear against the door.

"You're sure the entrance is in here?" He could hear her voice on the other side of the door. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a colossal revolver. There was a pause before she spoke again.

"If you say so. Hidden bookcase seems old fashioned." Nero frowned as she paused again. So the woman was looking for something? And she was talking to someone else?

"Yes, yes, I know, we're in a castle hundreds of years old. So just pull the book that's out of place, and-"

Nero could suddenly hear a loud grinding noise, and he used the sound to cover the sound of him opening the door. He poked his head in through the cracks to see a large, fancy looking library. The cloaked woman was standing in front of one of them, back to him as she stepped forward, slipping by the bookcase quickly as it slid enough for her to pass it. Nero stepped inside fully as the bookcase slowly slid open fully, the woman already out of view.

"And what's behind door number one, I wonder?" Nero said to himself as he dug into his pocket and pulled out several exploding revolver rounds and loaded them into his gun. Then he lifted it, and walked into the opening, beginning to descend a long series of steps.

* * *

Down at the bottom of the steps, Lady stepped from the last stone step onto a hard, metal floor. She glanced around, adjusting the sunglasses she now had on. She was now in a narrow hallway, with only one hard, metal door with a rusty handle on it.

"Pretty low budget for a hidden lab." Lady muttered.

"You know how it is, girl, spend millions of bucks on expensive toys that'll gather dust, but can't spare a hundred bucks for a new door handle."

Lady shrugged as she reached the door and opened it. She found herself in a circular lab. On one end, a giant glass window looked out on another circular area, one that seemed to be some kind of testing ground, although for what, she couldn't say. Around the room she was in were various control panels, as well as a table with scattered pieces of paper. But her eyes weren't drawn to that. They were drawn to the center of the room, where a large, circular machine sat. And in the center of it, a briefcase was floating, one with a very unique skull design on it.

"Holy shit…." Nico said as she saw the briefcase. "Is that what I think it is?"

"You recognize this case?" Lady asked as she approached it, stopping a few feet from it.

"The case, no, but that skull, that's something I've only seen in one place before. In books, talking about Pandora's Box."

Lady blinked in surprise. "You mean,  _that_ Pandora's Box?"

"There another one I ain't heard of?"

"But…..that hasn't been seen in centuries, so far as I know. How the hell did a bunch of loonies who never leave their island get their hands on it?" Suddenly, Lady heard the click of a hammer cocking back on a revolver.

"Damn." Nero said. "I'm not exactly the Order's biggest cheerleader, but that's just uncalled for." There was a moment of tense silence as Lady refused to respond to Nero's quip.

"Hands up." He said. "And turn around, real slow."

Slowly, Lady did as instructed, turning around.

"Stay cool, girl." Nico said through the mic. "I got a few surprises in this thing. Be ready to move on my go. Just keep him talking while I record the rest of the room and those papers over there."

Lady gave no indication she had heard anything, and coldly stared Nero down.

"Nice shades." Nero said with a hint of amusement. "You always put those on for your break ins?"

"Only when I'm breaking into  _shady_ places." Lady retorted, earning a chuckle from Nero.

"That pun alone is enough to earn you an arrest." Nero said as he shook his head. Lady cocked her head to the side.

"How long have you been working for these people?" She asked.

"Depends. I've lived here all my life. But this is actually my first day on the job working in a position like this. You're gonna earn me a real sweet promotion, you know that, lady?"

Lady just shook her head sadly. "So you don't know what they're doing down here. You just followed me in."

"What's it matter?" Nero asked, still keeping the gun pointed firmly at her head.

"The Order of the Sword. On the surface, nothing more then a group of demon hunters with an unusual belief system and an insular society, but nothing more then that. But my people have heard rumors that the Order's up to something nefarious. So I came down here to investigate, only to find a hidden lab with a Devil Arm in it."

Nero raised a skeptical eyebrow. "The briefcase?"

"You familiar with the legend of Pandora's Box?" Nero's face clearly said no. "It comes from Greek mythology. It's said that long ago, after a fierce battle with a demon lord, a jar was all that remained of the demon. The jar was taken and kept locked up, the locals warned never to open it. But one girl, Pandora, let her curiosity get the better of her, and so one night, she snuck in and opened it, unleashing all of humanity's sins. Greed, lust, wrath, and so on. But in that box was also something that allowed humanity to overcome those sins. Hope."

Nero snorted. "And you  _believe_ that shit?"

Lady shrugged. "No, but every legend has some grain of truth. That box was a Devil Arm. A remnant of a slain demon, each unique in their own way, each capable of evil in the wrong hands."

"I'm pretty sure they didn't have briefcases back in the day." Nero said, clearly not buying it.

"Devil Arms can change their form, depending on the wielder and other circumstances. It's not impossible that it changed from it's original form to a modern briefcase at some point."

"You got a point to all this, or are you just stalling?"

Lady nodded. "What I am saying is your order is collecting these weapons. Those papers over there are records and notes that a man by the name of Agnus wrote. They seem to be records from experiments and observations they've done with various Devil Arms. And what reason would there be for someone to do that?"

"Know your enemy? Keep them in storage?"

"In a secret lab, hidden in the basement of some creepy castle?" Lady asked with a raised eyebrow. Nero hesitated, unsure, and she continued. "You don't think  _any_ of this is fishy?"

"Maybe." Nero said as he shrugged. "Doesn't mean I trust you. You're gonna come with me to see Credo, and he'll decide what we do with you."

"Credo? The commander of the Holy Knights? You don't think their highest ranked commander is in on the plan?"

A gunshot rang out, and two bullets fired out of his gun at the same time, passing her head by inches and impacting the wall before exploding.

" _You don't talk shit about him!"_ Nero yelled, his voice taking a dangerous edge. " _Not to me!_ "

"I didn't mean to insult." Lady said, very carefully. "But you have to be carful who you trust, is all I'm saying. If the wrong people learn you followed me down here, they'll want you dead as much as they're going to want me dead."

Nico's voice came back through. "Alright, I'm done. Get ready."

Nero just shook his head. "Just shut up. Time to drag you upstairs."

He started to approach her to grab her hands. Nico chimed in.

"Ok, bright light in 3, 2, 1-"

Suddenly, the front of Lady's glasses lit up, lights with the intensity of a truck's headlights turning on and pointing directly in his face. Nero staggered backward as he tried to throw his free hand in front of his face. Unthinkingly, he fired his weapon twice in Lady's direction, but she was already moving out of the way as she let her cloak drop to the ground. The bullets impacted the control panel behind her, the explosive bullets blowing it up and setting the lab ablaze.

"Shit." Nero muttered as he saw what he had done. Then alarms suddenly started going off. Outside the window, he suddenly heard popping noises, and a number of small demons in the shape of swords shot out and started flying around the room. Some caught sight of Nero and started slamming against the window, trying to break through. Nero slowly walled toward the window, in shock from what he was seeing.

"I'm not your enemy."

He spun around, having practically forgotten about the woman, he would have expected her to have fled already. Without her cloak, he got a nice look at her normal outfit, and all the guns she had on her body as she leaned against the wall next to the back door, Pandora's Box in one hand.

"You sure? Cause you're dressed like you're ready to fight a war." He said, quipping on reflex. "You packing enough heat? I think your military is wondering where their surplus went."

"When it comes to demons, you can never have too much firepower." Lady said with a shrug. "I didn't even bring the rocket launcher." Nero gave her a skeptical look, unsure whenever or not she was joking.

She glanced over at the destroyed control panel, where the fire was starting to spread, blocking the door they had entered through. "I wouldn't hang around if I were you. Go back upstairs, pretend none of this happened."

"You expect me to do what!?" Nero yelled. "Just forget about all this shit!?"

"I expect you to be smart. Don't do anything rash, or you'll put yourself in danger." He scoffed at that. "Just keep your head down. I don't want you getting hurt."

She turned and walked out the door before he could reply. She found herself outside, with a balcony in front of her that sat overtop a large river that ran between the castle and the mountain that sat directly behind it. She peered down at the river below, confirming that the jet ski she had used to get here was still hooked up to where she had tied it down. Then she went into one of her pouches and took out a long bundle of rope. She tied it down to one of the metal poles that blocked off the balcony, and hooked a tool to her belt to allow the rope to attach to it so she could rapidly slide down the side of the cliffface.

"Hey, Lady." Nico said, voice more subdued then usual. "That kid back there. You don't think he's related to Dante, do you?"

As Lady started speaking, Nero exited the door, unseen by Lady, carrying a bundle of papers which he had delayed a moment to grab. "I'm not sure. It's possible. But I need to look into it more, because if this Nero is his son, I have to be sure before I decide on what I do next."

She jumped off the cliff as Nero came to a halt, blood running cold as her words ran through his head and he processed what they meant.

"WAIT!" He yelled as he ran to the edge of the balcony, only to see her already halfway down. "What the hell do you mean? What do you know about my father!?"

He didn't hear any reply, wasn't even sure if she heard him. Furious with everything that had happened, he smashed the nearest wall with his demonic arm, leaving a serious hole in it. Then he shook his head, and stomped away.

* * *

About an hour later, Credo reentered the main room to find Nero sitting in the back, arms crossed. He walked over to Nero, who glanced at him.

"Took you long enough."

"I'm afraid there's been some…developments. I will have to remain here for some time." Nero snorted in annoyance. "Did you have any luck on your end with the search?"

"No, but…." He hesitated.

"Yes? What did you find?" Credo demanded.

Nero's first instinct was to tell Credo everything he'd seen. But that woman's words were sticking in his mind, as much as he hated to admit it. And he couldn't deny Credo was their golden boy, often left for long periods and didn't explain why. And now, from the sounds of things, he knew about that lab, maybe…..

He decided to test the waters with an innocent question, and looked Credo in the eyes. "You ever heard of a man by the name of Agnus?"

Credo tried to hide it, but he saw the split second recognition of the name in his eyes before he covered it with his usual stern expression. "Where did you hear that name?"

"Oh, someone I was walking past mentioned it, sounded important. But I never heard of anyone by that name, so I figured-"

"Forget you ever heard it." Credo said, cutting him off. "You should not know that name. Never repeat it."

"Jesh, what is this guy, a demon?"

Credo sighed. "His very existence is classified. Only a few people even know he exists. That is all I will say. Forget him. That is an order."

 _So you do know._ Nero thought to himself. He shook his head and stood up.

"Fine. Whatever. I'm blowing this popsicle stand. Later."

He stormed off, and Credo started after him for a second, clenching and unclenching his fists before he shook his head and walked away.

* * *

Credo and His Holiness sat in a room at a large, round table. They were joined by a third man in a monocle, that man being Agnus.

"R-r-ruined! Everything in that lab was destroyed! Equipment, obliterated! Notes, burned to a c-c-crisp!" Agnus yelled, clearly furious.

"And the Box?" His Holiness asked, the picture of calm compared to Agnus.

"Gone! Vanished!"

"Could it have been destroyed in the fire?" Credo asked, leaning forward.

"A Devil Arm? HA! Not b-b-b-bloody likely!" Agnus spat. "No, more likely, whoever sabotaged my lab s-stole it!"

His Holiness turned to Credo. "Have you learned anything on that end?"

Credo frowned. "Not a thing. Whoever this was snuck in unnoticed, managed to find the library entrance to the lab, entered, did their work, and then slipped away. We had the castle locked down, but it seems they had a vehicle hidden. A couple of scouts spied a small boat fleeing the island just before the lab was discovered. All they could say is that it was a woman in white clothing."

"Worthless, all of them!" Agnus yelled. "I want r-r-r-r-retribution!"

"And how do you propose we strike when we do not even have a name for our enemy?" Credo asked.

"Silence!" Agnus yelled, pointing across the table at him. "Had your men done their job, my l-l-lab would still be intact! This failure will set us back y-years!"

"Now, now." His Holiness raised his hands, silencing them both. "The damage is not so serious, so long as we recover the box. Everything else can be replaced. But we must have the box. Find that, and the trail should lead to this woman. I will begin consulting our sources on the outside, inquiring. When the time comes-" He turned to Credo. "-you will go, retrieve the box, and deal with our enemies."

"As you command." Credo said, bowing his head.

"As for you, Agnus, take the rest of the day off. Your lab will be rebuilt to exactly how it was before. Rest easy, friend."

"T-t-thank you!" Agnus muttered, bowing his head.

"With that, you are both dismissed. May Sparda guide your hand."


	24. Welcome Back

Lady sat inside of an old taxi cab with a phone to her ear, looking out the window at the streets as she approached the office. She'd tried her best to relax and enjoy her vacation after the events that had taken place in Fortuna, and for the most part, she had succeeded. But she found her mind constantly going back to Nero and his potential relationship to Dante. She'd debated with herself a dozen times whenever she should call him, or even bring it up at all, but whatever she did, she knew this was a conversation she had to have in person. And before she did that, she had to do some digging of her own. Which is what the phone conversation was for.

"So, let me make sure I have the facts right." A hardened, grizzled voice said on the other side of the line. "Kid by the name of Nero, last name unknown, lives on the island nation of Fortuna. You want me to gather as much as I can dig on him, particularly anything related to his parentage. I am not to make contact with him or take any risks that may tip off the target of the investigation. That all correct?"

"That's right." Lady said with a nod.

"Right. Fortuna presents….unique difficulties for any investigation." He said slowly.

"I was referred to you by a close friend, she assured me you can handle it."

"And so I can." He said in a reassuring tone. "But it won't come cheap."

"I'll pay whatever the cost is."

There was a pause, as she heard the sounds of loud typing on the other end.

"Right." He said. "This will take some time. I'll be back in touch once I've concluded the investigation. I do a half now, half at the end billing system."

"Send the bill to this address." Lady then gave the man Nico's address. She sure as hell didn't want them asking questions about bills for private investigators. He hung up, and she leaned back in the seat, dozing off.

* * *

Soon enough, the cab driver woke her up, saying they were almost there. She tried to call Vergil and Dante before the plane landed, Vergil had told her he wanted to pick her up. But the phones were going right to voice mail. So she just caught a cab herself.

The cab pulled up in front of the office, and she stepped out, Pandora in her hand and her large bag of clothing on her back as she paid the man. She looked around, noticing that both Dante's bike and Vergil's car were out front. The door to the office, on the other hand, was little more then a couple of planks of wood, clearly a temporary measure to cover the doorway.

"Oh god, did the door get wrecked  _again_?" Lady muttered as she approached it. She checked it, and found it unlocked. Slowly, she pushed on the door, and entered.

"Vergil? Dante?" She called out as she entered. "I'm back!"

She looked around the office, not seeing them. She frowned, wondering where the hell they could have gone without taking their cars. She dropped Pandora on the desk and walked up the stairs, entering her room. She dropped her bag on the floor, and turned to her private bathroom, only to pause as she saw light coming from under the door, a light she was certain had been off when she left for her vacation. Slowly, she approached the door, and knocked on it.

"Dante? Vergil?" She called. "I better not find you in there! You  _know_ that bathroom is off limits!"

The door suddenly opened, and Lady was met with what was practically a wall of steam coming out of the bathroom. She took a step back, waving her hand in front of her to try to clear it away.

"Hey."

As the steam cleared, Lady was met with a wet woman with long, blonde hair. And that was it, because the rest of her was naked, from head to toe. Lady's jaw dropped.

"Wha….what the hell?" Lady stammered in shock.

"Your bathroom was cleaner." The woman said, shrugging casually.

"That's not what-"

Lady was cut off as Trish pushed Lady's shoulder to the side so she could slip past.

"Pardon me." She muttered as she walked past. Lady's nose caught whiff of a particular scent in the woman's hair as she exited the room.

"Hey! That's  _my shampoo_! Who told you that you can use it!?"

Lady chased after the woman, reentering the main office, only to see that in the course of about 3 seconds, the woman had somehow found an outfit, some black corset and pants combo, and gotten changed into it. She was busy walking down the steps.

"Excuse me!" Lady yelled, shifting from shock to annoyance. "You wanna explain what the hell you're doing in my office?"

"Your office?" The woman said as she paused in front of a mirror, pulling out a stick of lipstick and applying it. "Thought it was co-owned."

"Not until those two pay me back their debt, it's not." Lady muttered. "Who the hell are you?"

"Name's Trish." Trish said. "You're Lady, of course. Dante's already told me plenty of stories about  _you."_

"Oh, has he, now?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "So you're what? His new girlfriend? I thought I laid out the rules for him if he ever brought some girl to the office."

"Not quite." She said, shrugging it off. "I've been watching you three for quite some time."

"What-"

"And last week, after you left, I tried to kill them." Trish continued, cutting Lady off and heedless of the growing rage in her eyes. "Then I took them to my master so that he could take a crack at it."

"So. You're a demon, then." Lady said, eyes narrowing.

"Yep. Oh, I also kind of wrecked your bike when I used it as a projectile to throw at them."

"You did  _what?!"_ Lady's gun came out of its holster in record time, pointing directly at the back of Trish's head.

"Wow.  _That's_ what set you off?" She asked dryly.

"Do you have  _any_ idea how much money I put into that thing!?" She asked with a furious edge. "I didn't spend all of that so some demonic  _bitch_ could just come along and wreck it!"

Trish slowly turned around and looked behind Lady, smirking. "Looks like you win, Vergil."

Lady blinked, and turned her head to see the two brothers standing in front of the open door each holding a box of pizza. Wordlessly, Vergil extended a hand toward Dante, who sighed before putting some money in it.

"Would someone please explain what the hell is going on!?" Lady yelled, still pointing the gun in Trish's face.

"Just put the gun down and we'll explain everything." Vergil said.

* * *

15 minutes later, the three of them were sitting around a table. Trish had stepped away to do something and left them to fill each other in.

"-and so, once Mundus was sealed away for good, we returned here, and naturally, she came with us." Vergil said as he finished recapping what happened on Mallet Island.

"So…." Lady leaned back, crossing her arms. "It's over?"

"Correct." Vergil said with a nod.

"Good. I'm glad. You couldn't have called me?" Lady asked, looking slightly hurt. "I get you wanted to deal with it yourselves, but what if something had happened? What if I came back and I never saw you again, you have any idea how I'd-"

Vergil held his hand up to stop her. "What do you think kept me going, during that battle? I wasn't about to let myself get killed and let that happen."

"Ok, but you couldn't have at least let me know after the fact?

"That was me." Dante admitted with a shrug. "Look, we didn't want to bother you during your vacation. So I figured all this heavy shit could wait until you got back, you know?"

"Alright, fine." Lady said, raising her hands in surrender. A moment passed as Vergil glanced over at the desk with the briefcase on it.

"And what is that?" He asked.

"Oh, that? Pandora's Box, a Devil Arm I….found, while I was on vacation."

"How the hell did you find a Devil Arm at….. where did you go, anyway?" Dante asked.

"Not important." Lady said as she waved her hand. "I found it at a….a yard sale. Guy had no idea what he owned. "

Dante shrugged, clearly not too concerned. Vergil wasn't convinced, but he was not about to press the topic right now. Another second passed before Lady changed the topic.

"What about your father's sword? Where's that?"

"Trish will be using that from now on." Vergil said in a mildly annoyed tone.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Lady said skeptically. "Can she be trusted?"

"Dante's the one who talked me into it." Vergil said, motioning toward him. He nodded.

"Look, you weren't there, but she went out of her way, risked her life for us, and she didn't have to."

"All well and good, but I still don't understand why you insisted on giving her the sword." Vergil muttered.

"Look bro, nether of us were using it. What were you gonna do with it, throw it in storage again? Someone may as well use the thing."

"She doesn't even share our blood, no matter what her appearance is." Vergil objected. "She won't be able to use its true power."

"No, maybe not, but she can use it well enough to give herself an edge." Dante retorted. "And if we ever run into something like Mundus again, we can just borrow it from her for a bit."

Lady looked back and forth between them, and then shook her head. " _Oh_. I think I understand." Both of them looked at her in confusion. "Dante, I realize she's a very beautiful woman and you've fallen for her, but it's irresponsible to try to win her over with a sword."

The brothers took a brief moment to realize what she meant, then as one, they yelled.

"NO!"

Lady recoiled backward from the sheer force of their yell.

"Ok?" She asked.

"That, that's not what's going on. Trust me here, Lady." Dante stammered.

"Something I need to know?" Lady asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, er…" Dante scratched his head as he searched for the words.

"The woman was made to look exactly like our mother in an effort to lure us in and get us to let our guard down." Vergil bluntly stated.

"Oh….." Lady said, suddenly realizing the issue. "That…..that's a little awkward."

Trish picked that moment to walk in. "Like I said, didn't pick the face." Vergil just grunted at her. "Anyway, ya, I'll be joining the team. Looking forward to seeing you in action." She said, motioning toward Lady.

"Alright, fine, if they're ok with this, I won't object. But you're not sharing my room and bathroom."

Vergil shook his head. "We'll be cleaning out one of the unused rooms and converting it for her."

"Wonderful. And just so you know, Trish, you owe me for that bike. I'll add you to the debt these two already owe me, and-"

Trish suddenly slapped a thick stack of 100 dollar bills wrapped in a bank paper that marked it as 10,000 dollars worth of 100's in front of Lady, who's eyes went wide.

"That enough to cover it?"

"I…." Lady picked the stack up. "Where the hell did you get this?"

"I robbed a bank before I met you three. No one saw me do it, so we should be fine."

This earned her wary looks from all three of them. She waited a moment, and then shrugged. "Relax. It was a joke."

They nodded, but Lady wasn't sure she was convinced. Good thing she wasn't a cop and wasn't about to ask questions, so long as she obeyed the law from this point forward. Besides, she was the one getting paid.

"I like her." Lady said as she smirked at the money. Dante chuckled.

"Shit, 5 minutes and Trish already bribed her way into Lady's heart."

"At least she pays her debts on  _time_." Lady said, looking over at him. "And speaking of, don't think I forgot about that payment you owed when I was on vacation."

She held out her hand expectantly and he chuckled again.

"About that….."

"Blew it on Tony again? No worries. I'll offer you a deal."

"Oh boy, here we go." Dante said as he sighed.

"We play pool. You win, I forgive this payment. You lose, you owe me double in 3 days."

"Can I say no?" Dante asked.

"If you pay me now." Lady said with a smirk.

"Fine, let's get this over with." He said as he got up. Trish looked over at Lady.

"Hey, can I get in on this?" Trish asked Lady. She put a hand to her chin, considering this.

"Hmmm…alright. Let's make this girls vs boys. Vergil, you're on Dante's side."

"As you wish." Vergil said as he stood up. "But Dante, should we win, you owe me a favor of my choosing."

Dante sighed. "Everyone keeps trying to wring me for shit."

"If you just paid me, you wouldn't be in this position." Lady pointed out. He just shook his head as the group rose and started headed for the pool table.

"I think I'm going to enjoy it here." Trish said, more to herself then anyone else.


	25. Role Reversal

_This chapter is going to be somewhat shorter then normal, sorry about that, but this is more of a setup for the next few chapters, and I couldn't find a way to extend it any more without dipping into needless padding._

* * *

The four demon hunters were sitting in their office, door now once again replaced, and all of them looked bored out of their minds. Vergil's head was deep in a book, Dante was sleeping in a chair, feet up on a desk, Lady was busying preforming the semi-tedious task of slotting bullets into her gun magazines one by one, a task that even with tools to speed the process took a while with the amount of ammo she expended, and Trish was filing her nails. She looked over at Lady.

"You sure this guy's showing up?" She asked. Lady shrugged.

"Morrison referred this client." Lady said with a shrug. "Was supposed to be here a half hour ago."

Suddenly, the door opened, and Morrison stepped inside. Just behind him was another man with short black hair in a brown coat.

"Sorry we're late." Morrison said. "Traffic's a bitch."

Lady kicked the desk Dante has his feet against, jolting him awake.

"As you say." Vergil said as he put the book down. "Let us not waste time, then."

"Ok, so, you may or may not have heard of our client. Big name over in the movie business, this is-"

"Quin Taro." The man said as he stepped forward. "I'm a director down in Hollywood."

"Bit far from home." Trish observed as she continued to file her nails.

"Oh, hey, I know this guy!" Dante said.

"You do?" Lady asked.

"Sure. Makes a lot of action flicks, lots of stylized gunplay and shit. You should watch some of em, Lady, I think you'd enjoy it."

"Always nice to meet a fan." Quin said. The others just looked blankly at him.

"Right, well, sorry to say the rest of us don't watch a lot of movies." Lady said.

"Shall we cut to the chase?" Vergil asked.

"Sure." Quin said. "So, we're in the middle of production for our next film, but we're running into a snag. Lots of shit keeps happening. Equipment gets damaged with no explanation, tapes vanish, takes keep getting ruined by all manner of weird shit. The cast keeps saying the production is cursed. I told them to grow a pair and get back to work. We even moved production to a completely different location, but it kept happening."

"All very sad." Vergil said without a trace of sympathy. "But I fail to see why this matters to  _us."_

"Last week, our lead actress was injured in a major accident. She's going to be out for months, I had to halt all production. But one of our cameras managed to catch this bastard."

He handed over a picture of a small, grey demon with stubby arms, legs, and wings, no more then 2 feet tall. They passed the picture among themselves as Vergil spoke.

"You have an Imp infestation."

"And where there's one imp, there are more." Lady noted.

"And they somehow followed you?" Trish said skeptically. "Imps are some of the stupidest, most braindead demons you'll ever find. They know enough to evade detection, but they're not trackers."

"Someone's got it in for you, buddy, and they're using demons to do their dirty work." Dante said with a nod.

Quin sighed. "Yes, that much I worked out. There's more then a few people who have issues with the way I do business and who would like to see me fail. But the problem is I don't have any actual badasses working for me, just actors. So I asked around, spoke to some associates, and they tell me stories about some group of demon hunters out west who are making waves. So I look into it, and I say, "Why the fuck hasn't anyone told me about these people before now!?"

"So the job is to go and kill these imps?" Dante asked.

"That may prove difficult." Vergil said.

"If they're targeting you specifically with the aim of shutting down your production, then they already won." Lady pointed out. "There's no reason for them to expose themselves again."

"That leads us to the second part of the job." Quin said before turning back to Morrison.

"Mr Taro here needs a new movie, with a new subject. And he wants to make it about you."

There was a brief moment of shocked silence before Dante broke it.

"You're shitting me."

"Not in the slightest." Quin said. "I can already see it, you got all the roles I need right here. The hardass heroine with the guns, her laid back partner, the stoic evil twin brother, and the sultry, sexy counterpart to the heroine.

"Why, thank you." Trish said. Vergil, meanwhile, looked furious.

"What do you mean,  _evil_ brother?" He asked.

"Look, someone's gotta be the villain." Quin said. "You can't have a movie without a villain, unless you're making some bullshit artsy thing so you can win an award. And you look the part better then anyone else."

"No!" Vergil yelled as he fixed an angry glare on Quin.

"Yes, perfect! That's the kind of intensity I'm looking for!"

"Come on, Vergil." Dante said, shrugging. "It could be fun."

"I will not be insulted like this!" He insisted, crossing his arms.

"Look." Quin said. "There's plenty of actors out there who make a career in villain roles. Nicest people you'll meet off set, but they're just naturally inclined to the role of the villain. It's not a knock against you or anything."

Vergil sighed, realizing he wasn't winning this argument. "Fine. If you insist."

Lady, meanwhile, looked conflicted. "I mean….I've never actually acted onstage before and, I'm not sure if I'm ready for something like that…"

"Is that stage fright I smell on you, Lady?" Trish asked. She turned toward Trish.

"No! It's just…we have a job to do, we can't afford to get bogged down at a movie shoot for weeks or months."

Quin shook his head. "No, I get that, I do. So the plan is, I got a preliminary script in place, already made the arrangements with the studio. You're gonna come in, and we're going to shoot all the action scenes. You guys will be "stuntmen", there to do those scenes. Once your job is done, you'll go home, and I'll get real actors in to do the rest of the movie."

Both Lady and Vergil still looked unsure, and Quin stood up. "Just think about it, ok? I think the idea's got a lot of potential. Morrison, thanks for your time, get back to me once they reach a decision."

Quin left, and they waited a second before speaking.

"Morrison, you sure this is a good idea?" Lady asked. "We're already pretty well known, but I don't want us to get constantly hassled in the street like some celebrities if some movie with our names on it gets released."

Morrison shook his head. "That won't happen. I've already discussed that with him, we'll be using fictional names for everything from the city to your names. Only reference to us will be an "Inspired by" line in the credits. I may get a few more calls then usual, but I can handle that."

"And if you're wrong?" Vergil asked.

"Then you can just glare at anyone stupid enough to hassle you and scare them off, Mr Villain." Morrison said with a chuckle. Vergil sighed and shook his head.

"Do I really come off like that?" Vergil asked.

"Yep." Dante said.

"Pretty much." Trish agreed.

"And I wouldn't have it  _any_ other way." Lady said as she put a hand on his shoulder, trying to make him feel better. Morrison stood up.

"So, we're all agreeing to take the job?" He asked. Each of them nodded, Vergil slower then the rest. He nodded back. "Alright. Get packing, you're all gonna be flying out tonight."


	26. Telling it Straight

_So I owe an apology for my abrupt halt in updates, and an explanation. First, life got in the way, I got very busy and had to adjust priorities for some time. Second, well, I hit serious writers block. When I first had the idea for the latest plot with the movie, I was sure I'd be able to write it. Then the time came to actually write it, and….my mind blanked, and I couldn't come up with anything. So I said I'd give it a few days for my brain to come up with something. Days became a week, which became two…..and so on._

_So with that said, I am sadly going to be skipping past the movie plotline and onto the next thing. My apologies to anyone who was looking forward to it, although I'll probably reference it later for a brief taste. Also, I'm probably not going to be updating as frequently as I was before, but I have no intention of abandoning the story and I'll try to do regular, if less frequent updates._

* * *

It had been several months since the job at the movie studio. Life had gone on for Devil May Cry. Nothing too eventful had happened in terms of jobs, it had been mostly run of the mill jobs since then, nothing to write home about. Of course, what Lady had learned on Fortuna remained heavy on her mind, but she had been determined to say nothing until she had more information. For that, she was waiting on the private detective she'd hired, and she'd already made several calls to him over the months asking for progress reports, each time receiving the same response, that the investigation was "In progress".

Then, the call finally came. He'd finished, and wanted to meet with her. She made the appointment at a cafe on the other side of town, snuck out of the building early before anyone else was awake, and drove over to the cafe.

She was now sitting in front of the black suited man as he sipped at an early morning coffee, tapping her fingers as she impatiently waited for him to finish. Soon, he put the thing down.

"Expecting trouble, are we?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, motioning to her guns, which she had brought with her.

"Better safe then sorry." Lady said, shrugging.

He considered this for a moment, then nodded. "I can respect that. Most of my clients prefer to remain….low key, is all." He lifted his hand and rubbed his fingers together. Nodding, Lady pulled out an envelope of money and passed it to him. He opened it, and slowly counted out the cash. Lady crossed her arms and waited until he was finished. He nodded, and reached for his attache case, removing a file. He opened it, revealing a picture of Nero looking very very bored as he stood in front of a banner with a logo that Lady knew to be the logo of the Order of the Sword. He passed the file to her.

"How much do you know about the Order?" He asked.

"Pretend I know nothing."

"Right. The Order of the Sword, or just the Order for short, were formed some time in the past, it's not clear how long, but what is known is that legend goes that the Legendary Dark Knight Sparda once served as feudal lord of their island. How true this is, I don't know, that's not my field, but what matters is that they believe it, and continue to carry on what they believe were his wishes to this day."

"Killing demons." Lady said.

"Correct. They are a highly isolated society, and the Order doubles as a theocracy, with their leader, known as His Holiness, exerting absolute control over the island. Trade and interaction with the outside world is at a minimal, and travel to and from the island is practically nil."

Lady nodded. She already knew most of this, but a recap was appreciated. She'd sure as hell paid the man enough to expect one. He continued.

"As for this Nero, you expressed great interest in his parentage. Unfortunately, I was only able to find his mother's side of the family." Lady nodded, disappointed but not shocked by this. "His mother was a native of the island, the name's in the file if you want it, but there was nothing particularly remarkable about her, she lead an average life and died of natural causes shortly after Nero was born. She apparently never divulged the identity of the father, but what I can confirm is that she never left the island."

"So the father would have had to go to her, is what you're saying." Lady muttered.

"That's right, but whoever they are, they didn't do it officially, which means they snuck in. Or, more likely, the father is another local of the island, but these people keep their secrets close, if that's the case, we'll probably never know who it was."

Lady shook her head no, and he raised an eyebrow. "No? You don't agree?"

"I have my reasons to doubt that." She said. He considered this for a moment.

"In that case, I advise you consider who may have had a reason to go there. You don't go out of your way to break into an isolated island just to have a one night stand with a random local. Whoever it was must have had another reason to be there."

Lady continued to nod, accepting this logic. "What else can you tell me about Nero?"

"Well, after the death of his parents, he was taken in by another family. Two individuals in the house with him, first a girl by the name of Kyrie, around his age, beyond a noted talent for singing, nothing of note about her. The other one, on the other hand, is named Credo, older then him by a considerable margin, he likely serves as the closest thing the boy has to a father figure. He's also the Supreme Commander of the Order's forces, and is a high ranking member of their power structure."

"The boy himself is apparently something of a rebel, he's apparently gotten in hot water a number of times for various acts of disrespect and disobedience. I imagine he'd have been banished a while ago, but this Credo must have stepped in on his behalf. But it would seem they're trying other methods to dispose of him now."

"What do you mean?" Lady asked, leaning forward.

"Several months ago, his position in the Order changed from a regular civilian to a member of their demon hunting forces. But it would seem he's not being treated as a standard member. Rather then work with a squad, he's being sent on missions alone. And sending a young, inexperienced boy out to hunt demons on his own? They're clearly trying to get him killed. Yet somehow, he's been doing this for several months and isn't dead yet."

Lady had a feeling she knew why that was.

"But it's only a matter of time. So my advice to you, Ms Lady, is whatever it is you're going to do, don't dawdle."

Lady nodded as she closed the file. "I appreciate it. You've done good work. Thank you."

"Don't thank me, thank your money." He said as he snapped his case shut and stood up. "Whatever it is you're doing, lady, good luck."

With that, he laid a bill on the table for his coffee, and departed. She remained in her seat, mulling what he said over, and considering her next move. Then, suddenly, she felt a hand gripping her shoulder, and quickly twisted around as her hand clutched the grip of one of her pistols.

"Sounds like you have a problem, Lady."

Lady's hand let go of her pistol as she saw Trish behind her. She muttered a curse as she looked behind Trish.

"Relax." Trish said. "They're still back at the office."

"How did you find me!?" Lady asked, clearly flustered. Trish just shrugged.

"Well, unlike the rest of you, I'm a full blooded demon. So sleeping is kind of…..optional for me. So when I heard you trying to pretend you know how to sneak with 5 guns on you, I got curious where you were going, and followed."

Lady sighed as Trish made her way into the seat the detective had been in. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Lady looked up, mock offense appearing on her face. " _Only_ a penny? How cheap of a girl do you think I am?"

They shared a chuckle at that, before Lady returned to her somber mood. Trish waited until Lady started talking.

"It's just….I'm not sure what I should do now. Should I tell him what's going on, or should I bury this and pretend it never happened?"

Trish crossed her arms, clearly surprised at hearing Lady talk like this. "Why not tell Dante?"

Lady shook her head. "It's just…..this happened a long time ago, and….Dante was a different person then. We all were, but him most of all. And I don't want to bring the past back up, not like this. I know he always gives off that easygoing aura, but there are things he cares about, and…."

She sighed, looking down at the table. "I don't want to hurt him. I don't know how he'd react to something like this, to being reminded of a mistake he made in a past he's gotten over."

Trish just shook her head. "You know, sometimes I think you're  _too_  tough."

Lady gave her a confused look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Here you are, trying to shoulder this alone, even as you're letting yourself get eaten up by the conflict of whenever or not to tell him." She leaned forward. "Look, I'm going to be straight with you. Even if you try to forget about it, you're too good of a person to actually do it. You're going to keep feeling guilty until you snap and let it out, and then everyone's going to be mad that you hid it. You may as well just come clean."

"But, what about Dante, I-"

Trish held up a hand to stop her. "Dante's a big boy. He can handle it. And if not, I'm sure you and Vergil will be around to help him."

Lady considered this, and slowly, she shook her head. "God, I'm an idiot."

"Na." Trish said. "You're just stubborn sometimes, and need someone to remind you of what you already know."

They chuckled again, and Lady stood up. "Alright. I'm going to go and tell him now."

"Er…today may not be a good day." Trish said as she stood up.

"Hmmm? Why not?"

"Did you forget?" Lady raised an eyebrow at Trish. "The newspaper interview is today."

"Damn it, that was today!? I thought that was next week!?"

"Relax. I have it under control, even gave Dante and Vergil a reason you and I are out." Trish reached into a tight pocket of her pants, and withdrew two slips of paper.

"What's-"

"We have an appointment at the salon."

Lady's eyes widened. "What? No, no, I don't need that, I can get ready at home, it's not that hard, we don't need to pay for-"

"This is my treat, and it's not just for the interview, we're doing this to have some girl time. You're not walking in all tense like this on my watch."

"Oh, come on. I can't ask you to do that." Lady said, her face turning slightly red as she tried to wave off Trish, who started smirking.

"You've never been to a salon before, have you?"

"No, that's not…" Trish just kept smirking, and Lady's face didn't get any less red. "Look, I work a lot, ok, and I don't do a lot of events where I would have to bother, that one charity event I just brought a dress and called it done, and-"

"Ok, that settles it." Trish said as she grabbed Lady's hand and yanked her out of the chair. "You are officially being kidnapped by a demon to go and have some fun and de-stress. Don't fight your fate."

Lady sighed, surrendering. "Fiiiiine. You win. Take me away, oh wicked demon."

They laughed as Lady was led away from the table.


	27. The Talk

The flash of a large camera on a tripod blinded pretty much everyone for half a second. The four demon hunters were all back in the office, posing in front of their collection of weapons and devil arms for the reporter, an older man in a tweed jacket, who had come to preform an interview about their newest member.

"Came out great." He said as he checked his camera. "Thanks again for agreeing to the interview. Check tomorrow's paper, you'll find the article."

A round of hand shaking happened, with everyone but Dante, who was busy lounging in a chair and eating a pizza, taking a moment to shake the reporter's hand. Once he packed up his equipment, he walked out the door.

"Alright, people." Lady said as she turned to look at all the out of place weapons and gear. "Time to clean up."

"Actually, I have a job to get to." Trish said. "Gonna need some backup on it, so if you don't mind, I'm gonna take Vergil with me."

"And when were you planning on informing  _me_ of this?" Vergil said with clear irritation.

Trish and Lady shared a look, and both instantly knew what was really going on. Lady nodded.

"Sure, that's fine, me and Dante can handle things here."

"No, no, I, er, I can't." Dante said as he quickly raised his hands up. "I got, er, a job."

"Oh, no you don't, you're not lazing out of this that easily." Lady said, crossing her arms.

"Oh what, Trish can pull the job card, but I can't? Unfair!"

Trish shook her head. "Alright, we're gonna get going, you ready Vergil?"

He grabbed his sword off the wall. "Always. Just try not to get in my way, woman."

"Suuuuuuure." Trish rolled her eyes as she turned and walked out the door, Vergil following.

* * *

Some time later, Lady and Dante were finishing the cleanup, as Lady laid Pandora's Box back into its proper position. Lady took a breath, mentally preparing herself for this.

"Dante? We need to talk."

Dante groaned. "Is this about the pizza boxes again? Look, the trashmen only come once a week, and you  _know_ I order a lot of pizza, where do you want me to put them, I-"

"This isn't about the trash. This is  _important_ , Dante."

He blinked, and looked over at Lady, seeing an unusually serious expression on her face, which for her was saying something.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Well...how do I start...You remember that vacation I took a while back?" He nodded. "That wasn't entirely a vacation."

"Pretty sure both me and Vergil twigged to that when you came home with a Devil Arm." Dante said as he pointed at Pandora's Box. "If that's what your worried about, I don't care, pretty sure he was fine with it."

"Well, that wasn't the only thing I found. While I was there, I...met someone."

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Lady, you better not be about to tell me you're cheating on Vergil."

" _No!"_  She spat out with quick, reflexive venom. She dug into one of her pouches and removed a photo. "Here, look at this, tell me what you see."

He took the photo and stared at it for a minute. "Some cosplayer who brought the wrong jacket?"

"Wha-no! I met this kid on an island nation called Fortuna. You know it?"

"Er...not ringing a bell, no."

"Well, maybe you don't remember the name, ok, but after I met this kid, I did some digging. Made some calls. This kid's been raised here, never knew his father, has had an abnormally high success rate fighting demons, looks just like you-"

"Lady." Dante said, cutting her off. "You're not suggesting what I think you are, right?"

"I am." She said with a nod. Dante just stared at her like she was nuts.

"Look, Lady, ok, I won't deny that I had some, er, indiscretions in those days, but I used protection, ok? You think I  _wanted_ to have a kid?"

"Then how do you explain this?" She asked as she jabbed the photo, hard.

"Coincidence? I don't know!" He yelled as he threw up his hands.

"Come on, Dante, you don't think this is at least something you should look into? Maybe once you go back, you'll remember how it happened."

Dante just stared at the photo again. "Wait. Lady. Tell me about this place. You said it was an  _island_?"

"That's right. They worship your father, Sparda. Built an entire religion, the Order of the Sword, around him and his mythos."

Dante was instantly sure of one thing. There was no way in hell he'd ever set foot on this place, knowingly or not. But there was someone else who looked just like him...

Dante's eyes widened in shock, and Lady misread the situation, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I don't blame you. You were a different person back then, ok? We all were. But you owe it to this kid to go there, and explain yourself."

"Riiiiiiight. Sure. I get it. Just, er...I, I need time, to, er...organize my thoughts? Figure out how I'm gonna go about this?"

"Sure. I understand. Just don't wait too long, ok?"

She took a second to pat him on the shoulder again, then turned and left the room. Dante, meanwhile, was busy thinking frantic thoughts.

_Shit, shit, shit, Vergil, what the hell did you do!? I need to talk to him, we need to fix this shit and make sure Lady never figures out that it was Vergil who had the one night stand!_

* * *

Meanwhile, back on Fortuna, Credo entered the main conference room in the Order's HQ. Inside, His Holiness waited, a newspaper in front of him. Credo knelt down as he entered.

"Your Holiness. You summoned me?"

"Indeed. Rise, and sit." Credo took his place in the room, empty save the two of them. He slid the newspaper over to Credo. "One of our men sent this today."

The newspaper was turned to a photo of Devil May Cry, and behind them, one object was circled. Credo gasped.

"The box!"

"Indeed. We have located it, at last. Based on what descriptions our men provided that night of the intruder who fled, we believe that the short haired woman in that photo was the intruder."

"Then we must reclaim it."

His Holiness nodded. "Yes. But the situation is more complex then you know. Those two men in the photo? They are no ordinary men. Those are the twin sons of none other than Sparda himself.

Credo gasped in shock. "We found them?!"

"We have in fact known of their existence for some time now. Because of their presence, we must treat this situation with a gentle touch. Only the best can be sent."

"And that is why you have called me." Credo concluded.

"You must go to the mainland, locate their office, and retrieve the box. But you must avoid the two sons of Sparda."

"You do not wish to harm them?"

"You will not be  _able_  to harm them. Even one as skilled as you cannot hope to best a son of Sparda in a one on one fight."

"And the women?"

"The short haired one is an experienced demon hunter in her own right, but she is but a mortal. Ideally, I would like to see her dead for her crimes, but the box is more important, so if you must choose, choose the box. The other one, we have been able to gather almost no information on. You are the best we have, I trust you to complete this most vital of missions."

Credo nodded as His Holiness passed a file over. "This file contains more information, including the exact location of their office, local currency to use to get there, and other, secondary information you may require. Study it. You depart tomorrow morning."

"So soon? What of Nero and Kyrie?"

"The boy has grown up fast, and has proven to be capable enough on the job, even if his attitude has yet to improve. I am sure he will be fine until you return." He waved his hand, clearly not too concerned about it. Credo shook his head, and rose, grabbing the file.

"Your will be done, Your Holiness." He said, giving a final bow before he left.


	28. Departure

On the streets of Fortuna, Nero was finishing today's patrol. He'd scoffed at first when he was told that his job was just to walk around and shoot any demon he saw. It sounded stupid to him, it wasn't like the demons were just going to conveniently show up in front of him and target him. Only that's exactly what seemed to be happening, so far as he could tell, because he was having a much higher encounter rate with demons then anyone else on the island that he knew of.

He stepped through a puddle as he glanced down at his covered demonic arm. If he had to guess, he would probably put the blame on the cursed arm. This only really started happening after it appeared. Not that he knew why it was there in the first place. He'd tried to get rid of it, through increasingly extreme measures, even tried to chop it off once or twice, but the thing was harder then anything he'd ever encountered.

His thoughts were disturbed as he got a funny feeling. Call it a demon sense, maybe, but he'd found that he could feel when demons were nearby. Whenever it was just experience, or another side effect of the arm, that sense had come in handy many times, as it was now.

He could feel the air behind him suddenly moving, and dropped into a crouch as he spun. The first slash flew through where his head had been mere moments ago, and he drew his sword as he saw his enemy, a large group of scarecrow looking demons, only with arms and legs replaced with blades. They were all leaping through the air, aiming to mob him all at once.

Nero just grinned, and then swung his sword in a wide arc. As he swung, he twisted the handle on his sword, superheating it, and as a result, the sword cut through all of the demons with no effort. Some went flying backward, some flew with the arc of the sword and impacted the nearest building, a couple flew behind Nero and bounced off the street. But all of them melted away into nothing after a few moments. Another two demons leaped from a roof, and Nero pulled out his revolver. He fired two shots, each shot launching two bullets directly into the demon's chests. They both impacted the ground with a squishy thud, and then melted away in turn. Nero shook his head.

"You'd think they'd learn a new trick or two at some point."

He turned to walk away, only to find a single demon slowly hopping toward him. He sighed.

"Really? Come on, I don't have time for this."

Nero just started walking, not even seeming to pay the demon a glance as he neared him. The demon prepared to swing, and once he was next to Nero, he tried to do so, only to have his blade literally caught by Nero's demonic hand. He sighed again, and then launched the demon full force into a wall. The demon exploded on impact, and Nero just shook his head as he continued down the street.

* * *

Credo had an unpleasant surprise waiting for him outside as he returned home, one that caused his usual stern, angry expression to twist into a scowl.

"Angus." He spat out as he stared down the hunchbacked man waiting outside his front door.

Angus gave a short, half mocking bow. "Credo. We m-must speak "

"I have nothing to say to you." Credo said as he tried to ignore Agnus and walk past him into the house. Agnus stopped him by putting his hand on Credo's chest, an action that earned him a scathing glare, one that caused Agnus to take a step backwards and raise his hands in surrender.

"The intruder and the box have b-been located, I am told."

"I do not speak of classified information in public, fool."

"I-I-If they  _have_ been, then, and  _if_  you are being sent to d-d-deal with them, then I have a r-request to make."

"No." Credo turned around and started walking until Agnus slid back in front of Credo.

"I do not ask much. You see, I require more t-t-t-test subjects."

"You have been provided plenty" Credo said sternly.

"Yes, yes, but v-vagrants and the destitute only provide so much value. My research would go m-much faster if I had a strong test subject, one proven in c-c-combat. And what better choice then one who has w-wronged us already, one who His Holiness has already demanded be d-d-d-dead?"

Credo did not bother to consider this. "There are far more important things for me to focus on then indulging your  _habits_." Credo spat. "The risk of adding an attempted live kidnapping is too much." Agnus raised a finger to say something, but Credo raised a hand. "But that is not why I refuse."

"Oh? Then w-why?"

Credo adjusted his collar. "You are a snake, a weasel, an Outsider. You were not born here, you were not raised on our teachings, our beliefs, our way of life. You wormed your way into His Holiness's trust, only because none other could offer what you did. That is the only reason you are tolerated. But make no mistake. I do  _not_  like you, and I will offer you no favors."

Agnus's face twisted into rage as Credo made his speech. "Is that s-so? If you will not do it for me, t-then do it for  _her_."

He pointed at Credo's house, and Credo's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"All I m-mean to say is that your sister seems to be a nice girl. It would truly be a shame if s-s-s-"

He didn't get any further then that, as he was grabbed by the throat and thrown against the door by Credo. Within the span of a second, he drew his blade and placed it against Agnus's throat.

"Wait! Let's not d-d-d-d-d-do anything hasty!"

" _Silence."_  Agnus made a pathetic sounding whimper. "Let me be clear. Touch her, and you die."

"But, but His Holiness-"

"Will find a way to make do without you, after your untimely disappearance. This is your only warning. Do. You. Understand?"

Agnus resisted the urge to gulp with a blade touching his throat. "Yes!"

Credo slammed him against the door again. "Good."

From inside the house, Kyrie's voice could be heard approaching the door. "I'm coming, just a minute!"

Credo threw Agnus, sending him flying into the street.

"Run. Back to your hole. Never come within 100 feet of my home again."

Agnus wasted no time fleeing, and Kyrie opened the door. "Oh, Credo. Why are you knocking?"

"Forgot my keys." He muttered as he entered, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Some time later, Nero entered the house, only to have to step around a large case of luggage.

"The hell?" He muttered as he stepped around it. He entered the living room to find Credo waiting for him. He had a look on his face that made Nero groan.

"What did I do this time?"

"Nothing. But we need to talk. Sit."

Nero groaned again, and flopped on the sofa, putting his feet on the table and leaning his head into one of his hands.

"I am leaving for a time." Credo began, a statement that instantly got Nero's attention.

"You mean…..leaving the island?"

Credo nodded. "I have been assigned business. I do not know how long it will take. While I am gone, it will fall to you to watch Kyrie."

Nero nodded seriously. "You don't have to worry about her. What's this all about, anyway?"

"Classified."

"Oh come on, don't feed me that line!" Nero moaned as he threw up his hands "You think I'm gonna tell anyone?"

"It is better if you don't know, for your own safety." He said, and raised his hand when Nero moved to object more. "More importantly, I need you to be on the lookout. If you see a tan, hunchbacked man who speaks in stutters, you are to chase him away. Do not harm him, if you see him, when I return, I will deal with him myself."

Nero raised his eyebrow. "She got a stalker or something?"

"Something like that. Can I trust you to handle it?"

Nero nodded. "I got it. Go do your thing, be a hero, whatever the hell it is you do."

Credo shook his head and rose. "I am going to bed, I must leave early tomorrow. I will see you when I return. "

* * *

Later that night, Nero was going to his room himself, and passed by what Credo's office, where he did all sorts of paperwork related to his job and kept his weapons. Usually, this door was locked. But Nero noticed that today, the door had been left slightly ajar. Maybe Credo had been tired or distracted, and didn't realize the door hadn't closed. Usually, he would have ignored it. But after today's conversation, he was curious what it was Credo was doing on the outside. So he quietly entered the room.

The room itself was neat, tidy, and organized, much like Credo himself. This made the yellow folder on the table stand out that much more, and he picked it up, opening it to the first page. The first page was simple, it laid out his task, reclaim some box, and kill some lady whose name was not given on the folder.

"Real helpful information there." He muttered. But at the same time, he was slightly disturbed. Since when was Credo an assassin? The Order was supposed to fight demons, not humams. He turned to the next page. Travel information, it looked like. Maps, directions, some cash, and rental tickets for a rental car once Credo was on the mainland. Pretty boring stuff, and Nero flipped past it quickly.

The next page, however, got a reaction. It was a full page picture taken from the newspaper article that had attracted the Order's attention. Nero recognized the short haired woman who had a red circle around her head as that chick he'd encountered some months ago in the castle. Next to her was some pissed off looking jackass and some other woman he didn't know. But he was staring at the last guy, the one who wore his hair in the same style that Nero did, and who looked a lot like Nero himself.

"You. You're the one she was talking about, ain't you?"

He looked down at the bottom of the picture, where each of them were identified. For whatever reason, the picture also didn't give the short haired woman's name, only calling her "Lady" which was about the most unhelpful thing in the world. But it at least gave the name of the man he wanted.

"Dante, eh?"

He turned the page, and it had a short briefing of known information about them. No real surprises for Nero with the woman, although he wondered why the Order would, well, order an assassination of someone in the same line of work as them. But for Dante and the other guy, all it said was "Son of Sparda, avoid at all costs."

"Sparda? You mean  _that_ Sparda? But he's been dead for 2000 years, how the hell does he have kids today? Or is it some kind of-"

"Nero?"

Nero practically jumped out of his seat as he slapped the folder closed and dropped it. At the door, Kyrie poked her head inside.

"Nero? What are you doing in here?"

"Erm…." He scratched his head, quickly trying to think of an excuse. "I was….cleaning."

"Cleaning?" She asked, sounding skeptical. "Don't you think you should start with your own room?"

"Well, you know, I figured Credo's going to be busy, I wanted to do him a favor for when he got back!"

"Well….." She frowned. "That's sweet, Nero, but you know this room's off limits. Credo's going to be furious if he finds out you were in here."

"Sorry, sorry, I'll just be another minute."

"Ok….."

She left, and Nero sighed in relief. He stared at the folder for a long moment, hesitating. Then he made up his mind, put the folder in his coat, and walked out of the room.

* * *

A couple of hours later, once he was sure that everyone was asleep, Nero quietly slipped out of the house, sword on his back and gun in its holster. He didn't bother to pack anything else. Little did he know that his exit had not gone unnoticed, as Kyrie watched from the window.

"Nero? Where are you going?"

Unable to help herself, and concerned for Nero, Kyrie slipped out of the house behind Nero, and started following him.


	29. Family Matters

On the docks of Fortuna, a man standing guard over a boat felt something tapping on his shoulder.

"Excuse me."

He turned to see who was behind him, only to eat a fist to the face from Nero's demonic arm, which knocked him out in one punch. Nero stepped over the man and onto the boat, a small fishing boat. Even for a nation that was isolated from the rest of the world, they still had a decent number of boats. As a consequence of being on an island, they relied greatly on fishing for their meat intake. Nero was now thankful that he'd been forced on a number of fishing trips in the past, as this meant he now had a pretty good idea of how to drive the thing.

It took him a minute to find the keys and start the boat up. Then he started moving, and once he was clear of the docks, he kicked on the settings to let it coast along on its own. It was at that second that he heard a loud bang from the back of the boat, and he drew his gun, spinning toward the sound.

"Alright, come out with your hands up. Nice and slow, now."

"Nero?"

Slowly, Kyrie stood up, hands up in the air. Nero's eyes widened for a moment before he groaned.

"Kyrie, what are you doing here!?" He asked as he put the gun away.

"I could ask you the same thing!" She said as she raised a finger to point at him. "Sneaking out in the middle of the night? Attacking someone? Stealing a boat? What's gotten into you!?"

"I..." He sighed and turned away. "I think I might have found my father."

Kyrie blinked, her anger vanishing. "Really? Oh, Nero, that's wonderful. But then why are you sneaking around like this? If you tell Credo, I'm sure he'll do what he can to help you."

Nero was silent for a long moment, as he considered how much of what he'd learned from the file he should tell her.

"Credo can't be involved, and neither can you. This is something I have to do on my own."

"Nero...I'm worried about you." Kyrie said as she looked around the boat. "And I want to help."

"You can help by staying safe at home. I'll be fine, I'm going to turn this boat around and-"

He looked back out at the dock, only to see a number of flashlight beams moving around at the edge of the dock, held by various robed figures.

"Damn it!" He yelled, punching a nearby wall.

''Let me come with you, Nero." Kyrie said. "I won't be a burden, I promise you."

"That's not...ah, alright, fine. Don't got much choice now."

He returned to the cabin.

"Credo's going to kill me for sure now."

* * *

Meanwhile, at a dark, shady looking bar, Dante sat in a corner, sipping at a beer. As he did so, the door opened, and Vergil entered. He looked around, clearly wary, before he saw Dante and sat at the table across from him.

"Since when do we meet in such low class establishments, brother?" He said, clearly in no mood for games.

"Look, I had to find a place where I was sure Lady wasn't going to see us."

Vergil sighed. "What did you do  _this_  time? I'm not loaning you more money."

"Oh, come on, bro, that hurts." Dante said as he spread his arms wide. "You just instantly assume something's my fault?"

Vergil just fixed an even look on Dante, who shook his head. "Look, this is serious, ok? We've got a code red crisis on our hands here."

Vergil stared for a moment, noticing that Dante indeed looked far more serious than usual. He nodded. "Alright. What's going on?"

"Well..." Dante scratched his head. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna say it. You got a kid."

Vergil blinked, and it took a second for him to process this. "Lady is pregnant?"

Dante snorted. "God, I hope not, Lady on hormones is the last thing I want to deal with."

Vergil's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Then what do you mean?"

"Alright, look, erm, you ever been to a place called Fortuna?"

Vergil took a second to think about it. "...Once. Religious cult surrounding our father?"

"That's the one. And did you, erm...by any chance, get, ahem,  _busy_ while you were there?"

Vergil stared blankly at Dante for a long moment, before a sudden look of shock crossed his eyes. "No..."

Dante nodded. "I'm afraid so, cause I'm damn sure I was never there."

"But...it was only one time..."

Dante shook his head. "Only takes once."

Vergil leaned back in his chair. "I...I have a child? But that was years ago, he must be..."

Dante slid a photo across the table, and Vergil stared at it for a long moment before speaking again. "How...how did you find out about this?"

"Lady. Apparently when she went on her  _vacation_ , she spent part of it there, and bumped into this kid who reminded her of me. She spent time looking into it, and after seeing what she found out about his history, I'm inclined to back her."

"...She knows?"

Dante shook his head. "Yes and no. She knows he exists, but she thinks he's my kid. I haven't corrected her, called you as soon as I found out."

"I have to tell her." He started to get up, only for Dante to grab his arm.

"Tell her? Are you nuts? You can't tell her this!"

"Why not!?"

"Bro. You've been working for over a year to get into a relationship with her, and it's been going well. But if you just tell her that you had a one night stand with some chick however many years ago and now you have a kid in his late teens, she's going to kick you so hard in the balls that they're going to end up in your mouth. And that's if you're lucky!"

Now Vergil was looking unsure of himself. "But...that happened long before I met her. And I didn't know about the kid-"

"Nero, his name is."

"-Nero, I didn't know about him."

"And you think she's going to care about that? Women, bro, they're not rational."

"Well...what do you want out of me, then? I won't just ignore this!"

Dante held up his hands in a placating motion. "I'm not telling you to ignore it, ok? But we have to take this slow. Plan our moves. We have time. This kid's been on his own his whole life, another few weeks won't kill him, and it's not like he's going to turn up on our doorstep tomorrow, right?"

"...I suppose not."

"Alright then, Sit down, and let's figure this out."

Slowly, Vergil retook his seat.

* * *

Credo was not a happy man.

He had awoken to the sound of banging on his door. He opened it only to learn from his own men that a boy matching Nero's description had apparently stolen a boat. A swift search of the house revealed that both Nero and Kyrie had vanished. Furthermore, the file that had been on his desk had also vanished. It didn't take a scientist to put 2 and 2 together. After dismissing the men who had alerted him to this, he grabbed his sword, and left the house, making the long walk all the way to headquarters, his stern face and angry expression convincing anyone who might have stopped him to get the hell out of the way.

He entered His Holiness's chambers, only to find His Holiness waiting.

"So." His Holiness said. "The boy has absconded with your sister?"

"You've heard already." Credo said.

"Naturally."

"And I have a guess as to why." Credo said, crossing his arms.

"Is that so?" His Holiness said, appearing to take no notice of Credo's anger.

"I had intended to ask you when I returned. But staring at that photo closely, I could not help but notice a close resemblance between Nero and these "Sons of Sparda". I imagine he too, noticed this, when he broke into my office and saw the file. No doubt, this is what spurred his sudden departure."

"Perhaps." His Holiness said without much emotion.

"Is it true?"

His Holiness pulled out a picture and passed it to Credo, a picture of Nero in combat, with a glowing demon arm on the arm he usually kept covered, punching a demon with a ghostly fist.

"We believe it to be, yes."

"And you didn't think to  _tell_ me!?" Credo yelled as he threw the picture to the ground.

"The information is top secret, very much need to know, and it was not, at the time, necessary for you to know."

"Well. Now I know. And so does he. He is no doubt headed there, as we speak. And he has dragged my  _sister_ along with him. If  _anything_ happens to her-"

His Holiness lifted his hand to silence Credo. "Peace. I am sure that the boy will die before he allows her to come to harm. The two of them are close, after all. But this new development changes things."

Credo leaned forward. "If you expect me to continue to follow your orders when my sister is in danger, you will tell me  _everything_. The time for lies and being kept out of the loop has passed,  _sir."_

His Holiness nodded. "Yes, I agree. But first, if you are to be able to complete your mission, we must perform the Ascension Ceremony. You will have no chance against the Sons of Sparda otherwise."

"And what does that entail?"

His Holiness rose. "I will explain before we begin. And once that is done, I will give you your revised orders. Now, come, follow me."

His Holiness waved to Credo, and after a second's hesitation, Credo followed His Holiness out of the room.


End file.
